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President Donald Trump today announced that his administration would delay for six months any action on the determination of the Department of Commerce (Commerce) in the Section 232 national security investigation into imports of automobiles and automobile parts. This investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 was self-initiated by Commerce in…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States is set to launch separate free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom. In letters sent to Congress on October 16, 2018, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer wrote: “We are committed to concluding these negotiations with timely and…

In March 2018, President Trump announced that under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the United States would increase tariffs on imports of certain steel products by 25 percent and imports on certain aluminum products by 10 percent on countries worldwide, including imports from the members of the European Union (EU) and Turkey. Although the EU was initially exempted from the imposition of tariffs, these tariffs came into place pursuant to two Presidential Proclamations issued on May 31, 2018. In response, the EU and Turkey announced their intent to impose retaliatory tariff measures.
Continue Reading European Union and Turkey Announce Tariffs on Certain U.S. Products

President Donald Trump signed yesterday two presidential proclamations adjusting imports of aluminum and steel into the United States. In doing so, he stated that measures are now in place to address the impairment to the national security threatened by imports of steel and aluminum from Argentina, Brazil and Australia. South Korea previously reached an agreement with the United States on April 30 to limit its imports of steel. President Trump added, however, that “similar measures are not in place with respect to steel or aluminum imports from Mexico, Canada or the European Union” and that insufficient progress had been made in ongoing negotiations with these countries. He declared that, as of June 1, 2018, the Section 232 tariffs for steel of 25 percent and for aluminum of 10 percent will no longer be suspended for such imports from these countries. The White House indicated that it will continue discussions with them and remains open to discussions with other countries that may lead to permanent country-based exemptions.
Continue Reading Trump Administration Implements Section 232 Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union

With the deadline approaching for full implementation of the Section 232 tariffs on certain steel and aluminum imports, President Trump on April 30, 2018 relented to increasing pressure and extended the tariff exemptions for key U.S. allies until June 1, 2018. In making the announcement, the Trump administration announced that it had previously reached a…

The European Union (EU) has published a list of U.S. products it might target in retaliation if President Trump moves forward with tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the Section 232 investigations. The list is divided into two categories:

  • Part A is a list of U.S. products that face immediate retaliation if the

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In the category of “we can’t make this stuff up,” there reportedly has been in the past 24 hours an all-out war within the Trump administration over any tariffs to be implemented as a result of the Section 232 investigations into steel and aluminum imports. On February 16, the Department of Commerce publicly released reports…

As expected, the European Union, China, South Korea and Taiwan have formally requested WTO consultations with the United States over the Trump administration’s Section 201 global safeguard measures on imports of certain solar cells and washing machines. The countries requested consultations under Article 12.3 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, which entitles affected countries who…