Russia is challenging a series of U.S. antidumping decisions on hot-rolled and flat-rolled carbon-quality steel that began in 1999 and have continued through 2019. The two countries also reached a suspension agreement on the carbon steel for part of the last decade, but antidumping duties have been levied on Russian carbon steel products since 2014. Russia is asking for consultations with the U.S through the World Trade Organization, because it says that the U.S. did not determine individual producers' dumping margins, and that it did not calculate the costs of production of the articles before setting the duty rates.
Peter Beyer, Germany's trans-Atlantic coordinator, told a Reuters reporter that he expects tariffs on imported cars from Europe to be imposed by President Donald Trump in November. Beyer, who met with members of Congress, White House staff and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative officials on July 9, said the U.S. is dissatisfied with the European Union's refusal to negotiate about agriculture in trade talks. “When it comes to the car tariffs, I unfortunately think they are more likely than not to be imposed in mid-November. There is quite a lot of impatience on the U.S. side. But that also requires us on the European side to be strong and unified.”
The U.S. circulated a request for consultations with India at the World Trade Organization on July 4, over India's decision to raise tariffs on American almonds, apples, motorcycles, lentils, chickpeas and other products. The tariffs were raised on those products in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Indian steel and aluminum. The combined product list is supposed to bring in $241 million in additional duties. The tariffs went up June 16, shortly after India was removed from the Generalized System of Preferences program.
Canada issued multiple new regulations related to Canada’s accession to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty in the Canada Gazette, Part II. Among those is the new permit for the export of Arms Trade Treaty items to the U.S. meant to "provide a streamlined permitting process for the export of most ATT items." The regulations also include a brokering control list, brokering permit regulations, and regulations specifying activities that do not constitute brokering. The regulations will take effect on Sept. 1, according to another notice. The regulations were proposed in March (see 1904150033).
There remains a portion of the sugar-containing products export quota to the U.S. available "for utilization by Canadian residents on a first-come, first-served basis until the available quantity is fully used or September 30, 2019, whichever occurs first," the Canadian government said in a June 21 notice. Companies must request a shipment-specific import permit from Global Affairs Canada to make use of the available export quota, it said. "To claim the in-quota rate of duty, the eight-digit export permit number issued by the Department on behalf of the Government of Canada must be indicated on the appropriate US Customs entry document. Canadian exporters should provide their US Customs broker with a copy of the export permit prior to the time of export and should retain the original document."
On the day after the Mexican Senate ratified the new NAFTA (see 1906190068), Ambassador Martha Barcena told an audience of U.S.-Mexico trade advocates that Mexico acted now to send the message that her country wants trade predictability. Barcena, who was speaking at the Wilson Center "Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border" conference June 20, said security issues have captured the narrative about the U.S.-Mexico border.
A spokeswoman for China’s National Development and Reform Commission on June 17 gave the clearest indication yet that China may seek to impose restrictions on rare earths exports to retaliate for U.S. tariffs. In response to a question during a regularly scheduled press conference on potential export restrictions, the spokeswoman said China is “resolutely opposed” to “anyone who attempts to use China’s rare earth resources to manufacture products” that are used to “contain and suppress China’s development,” according to an unofficial translation. The spokeswoman also mentioned the possibility of export controls and traceability requirements for Chinese rare earths.
The World Trade Organization case that the U.S. opened against China on intellectual property (see 1804090020) has been suspended. The announcement, published June 14 by the WTO, gave no indication as to why the U.S. asked the dispute panel to pause in its consideration of the case. Under WTO rules, a case can be suspended for 12 months.
Canada will try to "move in tandem" with Mexico and the U.S. as legislatures in the three countries work to ratify the replacement for NAFTA, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters June 13. Freeland, who was in Washington to talk about ratification of the trade pact, said: "We think of it as a kind of Goldilocks approach, not too hot, not too cold, we’re not going to go too fast, we’re not going to go too slow. It does mean we are going to be spending a lot of time talking with our American counterparts to get that pacing right, and I do want to say, our excellent ambassador is here, David MacNaughton. The embassy is working extremely hard on this issue and spending a lot of time on the Hill, meeting with Democrats, with Republicans both to help people understand here how the Canadian legislative process works and also to get a better understanding of where the U.S. is and where individual members of Congress and senators are."
Vietnam is cracking down on transshipment schemes that falsely claim Vietnamese country of origin to avoid high tariffs on Chinese goods, according to a June 13 report in CustomsNews. Vietnam Customs has discovered dozens of certificate of origin violations so far, particularly in the textiles and apparel, seafood, agricultural, steel, aluminum and timber sectors, the report said.