On March 12, 2019, Robert Lighthizer, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), testified before the Senate Finance Committee regarding the World Trade Organization (WTO) and President Donald Trump’s desire for a more effective international trading system. In his prepared remarks, Ambassador Lighthizer stated that the United States remains active at all levels of the WTO but
Thompson Hine International Trade
Mexico Prepares Additional Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Products
On March 6, 2019, during a meeting of the Foreign Trade Commission of the Mexican Senate, Luz Maria de la Mora-Sanchez, Foreign Trade Undersecretary of Mexico’s Ministry of Economy, announced that the Mexican government is planning to include additional items on its list of U.S. products subject to retaliatory measures, which were originally imposed on…
The American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance Files Trade Remedy Petitions on Imports of Wooden Cabinets and Vanities from China
On March 6, 2019, the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance (Alliance) filed antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (Commission) against imports of wooden cabinets and vanities from China. The Alliance consists of U.S. producers of wooden cabinets and vanities: ACProducts, Inc., American…
President Trump Announces Intent to Terminate GSP Designation for India and Turkey
President Donald Trump has officially notified Congress of his intent to terminate the designation of Turkey and India as beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. Termination means that products from these two countries will no longer receive duty-free access to the U.S. market. Official removal of these countries’ designation under…
U.S. Department of Commerce Initiates Section 232 Investigation into Titanium Sponge
On September 27, 2018, Titanium Metals Corporation (TIMET) filed a Section 232 petition alleging that the quantity or circumstances of U.S. titanium sponge imports threaten to impair national security. On March 4, 2019, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that the petition had been accepted and an investigation initiated. Ross sent a letter to Acting…
U.S. Trade Representative Officially Confirms China Section 301 Duty Rates Will Remain at 10 Percent
In a Notice of Modification of Action published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) made official its earlier announcement (see Trump and Trade Update of March 1, 2019) that the Section 301 retaliatory tariff for the third tranche/list of products imported from China will…
U.S. Trade Representative Releases 2019 Trade Policy Agenda and 2018 Annual Report
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released President Donald Trump’s 2019 Trade Policy Agenda and 2018 Annual Report, detailing how the Trump administration’s trade policies “are benefitting American workers and contributing to the strongest economy in decades.” Claiming that the Trump administration “inherited a significantly flawed trading system,” the report states…
U.S. Trade Representative Releases Summary of U.S.-UK Trade Agreement Negotiations
On February 28, 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) submitted to Congress and released to the public a summary of the Trump administration’s specific negotiating objectives for its United States-United Kingdom trade agreement negotiations. This follows the USTR’s notification to Congress on October 16, 2018, of the Trump administration’s intention to enter into negotiations (see…
U.S. Trade Representative Announces Section 301 Tariffs on Imports of List 3 China Products Will Remain at 10 Percent
At the direction of President Donald Trump and due to recent progress in trade negotiations with China, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the Section 301 duty rate for certain products imported from China “will remain at 10 percent until further notice.” The announcement will be formally published in the Federal…
What to Expect in the USMCA (a.k.a. NAFTA 2.0)
On November 30, 2018, the United States, Mexico and Canada officially signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a proposed free trade agreement that, if approved by Congress and ratified by the governments of Canada and Mexico, would revise and modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Known as “NAFTA 2.0” during the trilateral negotiations,…
