Tariffs/Trade Policy

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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced in a forthcoming Federal Register notice that the United States will increase the tariffs imposed on aircraft imported from the European Union (EU) from 10% to 15% on March 18, 2020. These tariffs resulted from an October 2019 ruling by a World Trade Organization (WTO)…

PrimeSource Building Products, Inc., a U.S. importer of various steel derivative products, filed a complaint (subsequently amended) in the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) on February 4, 2020, arguing that President Donald Trump’s Proclamation No. 9980 is unlawful and unconstitutional. This proclamation expanded the implementation of steel and aluminum tariffs under Section 232 of…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has published a Federal Register notice approving exclusions from the Section 301 tariff for four imported Chinese products appearing on the first list/tranche of goods valued at $34 billion. The products are:

  • Centrifugal pumps, submersible, designed for use in artificial lift systems for extracting oil and gas

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China’s Ministry of Finance has announced that retaliatory tariffs it implemented on a range of U.S. goods in response to the U.S. government’s Section 301 tariffs will be reduced February 14, 2020 on certain products from 10 percent to 5 percent, and on others from 5 percent to 2.5 percent. China first implemented these retaliatory…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on the possible extension of Section 301 tariff exclusions for certain products that it granted on April 18, 2019, in the ongoing trade dispute with China. These exclusions were in the third batch of exclusions granted as part…

In his State of the Union address to Congress last night, President Donald Trump spoke of the “great American comeback” and claimed that “[t]he years of economic decay are over.  The days of our country being used, taken advantage of, and even scorned by other nations are long behind us.” His prepared speech focused briefly…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has published a Federal Register notice announcing additional Section 301 tariff exclusions for certain imported Chinese products appearing on List 3. These products have been subject to Section 301 tariffs since September 24, 2018, when President Donald Trump announced additional import duties on Chinese goods with an…

On January 24, 2020, President Donald Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation directing the Department of Commerce to adjust the tariff rate on imports of derivative steel and aluminum products into the United States. In earlier proclamations (see Trump and Trade Update of March 8, 2018), the president directed Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to…

In a Memorandum Opinion for the Deputy Counsel to President Donald Trump, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (DOJ) determined that “the President may direct the Secretary of Commerce not to publish a confidential report to the President under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, notwithstanding a recently enacted statute…

On January 15, 2020, after two years of negotiations and retaliatory measures in a tariff trade war, the United States and China signed a “phase one” trade agreement that President Donald Trump called “historic” and “transformative.” In remarks during the signing ceremony, Trump said, “Today, we take a momentous step — one that has never…