President Donald Trump and Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had a "friendly" talk for 30 minutes Oct. 6, according to an unofficial translation of a Brazilian readout. Trump wrote on social media, "This morning, I had a very good telephone call with President Lula, of Brazil. We discussed many things, but it was mostly focused on the Economy, and Trade, between our two Countries. We will be having further discussions, and will get together in the not too distant future, both in Brazil and the United States. I enjoyed the call — Our Countries will do very well together!"
Think tank scholars said they think it's possible that tariffs on Chinese goods could decline by 20 percentage points after the two countries' presidents meet in a month, but that it's also possible that tariffs could soar again if President Donald Trump is angered by China's support for Russia, Iran or aggression toward the Philippines.
Tariff preferences for sub-Saharan African countries and two of the three tariff preference programs for Haiti ended Oct. 1. In a hallway interview at the Capitol, Senate Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said that he "would love to [renew both] retroactively."
The chief negotiator for the European Union, Maros Sefcovic, said that while the EU has a reputation for having "very complicated rules and regulations," that doesn't compare to the burden on companies trying to quantify how much steel (and its cost at the time it was sourced) went into making a Bosch refrigerator, Miele dishwasher or a BMW motorcycle.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that while the administration doesn't expect to lose its tariff case at the Supreme Court, "wherever we end up," the approach will be similar to what it is now.
A new report from Rethink Trade, an anti-corporate trade nonprofit, says that while the USMCA's Rapid Response mechanism has helped tens of thousands of workers in Mexico, unions and Rethink Trade will push for changes to the mechanism in the USMCA review.
President Donald Trump posted on social media that he is going to impose a 100% tariff on "any and all movies that are made outside of the United States," a repeat of a declaration he made on social media in May but didn't follow through on (see 2505050003). In the earlier post, he called foreign filming a national security threat, but in this one, he gave no clue what authority he would use.
Days after President Donald Trump said 30% tariffs on upholstered furniture were starting Oct. 1, he wrote on social media, "In order to make North Carolina, which has completely lost its furniture business to China, and other Countries, GREAT again, I will be imposing substantial Tariffs on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States. Details to follow!!! President DJT"
The Department of Homeland Security posted a revised shutdown contingency plan over the weekend, and, although the plan says that responding to correspondence, long-term project management and developing products for programs that are in the works are not to happen during a shutdown, the only offices in CBP that are mentioned as having non-essential workers are the Office of the Chief Counsel and those who work in labor relations.
Olof Gill, a spokesman for the European Commission, told reporters in Brussels that the top trade negotiator for the EU, Maros Sefcovic, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were meeting Sept. 25 to talk about the EU's proposal to allow historical levels of steel exports under a tariff rate quota system. Such a system was in place during the Biden administration.