EU ministers this week officially adopted a ban on products made with forced labor, marking one of the final steps in a yearslong lawmaking process designed to eliminate EU imports, exports or other sales of those goods (see 2404230048 and 2403050035). The new regulations will apply about three years after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
Trump transition team members may have already drafted an executive order hiking tariffs on Chinese imports, said Peterson Institute for International Economics fellow Mary Lovely, during a webinar moderated by former European commissioner and now PIIE fellow Cecilia Malmstrom.
Members of the House Ways and Means Committee majority, who will lead the extension or expansion of the first Trump term income tax cuts, are expressing some hesitancy about using tariffs as a pay-for.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick to be Commerce Department secretary, Trump announced Nov. 19. "He will lead our tariff and trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative," Trump said in a statement.
With just 14 days in session scheduled for the House of Representatives before the end of the year, Ways and Means Committee members are not expressing optimism that a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program will be one of the items that gets a vote this Congress.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, in its annual report to Congress, said that ending de minimis for all e-commerce is one of its top 10 recommendations, and said that if Congress passes such a law, it should provide CBP adequate resources to implement and enforce the change.
In addition to tariff hikes expected in 2025, trade experts are also thinking about the 2026 review of USMCA, and the investment and supply chain planning uncertainty that is likely to follow.
NEW YORK -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission's intent to require information from certificates of compliance to be filed in ACE next year is alarming brokers, according to Erin Williamson, vice president of customs brokerage at GEODIS USA.
DETROIT -- Cindy Allen, owner of consultancy firm Trade Force Multiplier, said she believes some of the initiatives in the 21st Century Customs Framework bills are useful -- such as simplifying CBP's process for seizures -- but that overall, the focus is too heavy on enforcement.