The Automotive Industry Action Group is alerting members that original equipment manufacturer suppliers will need to provide additional information on their supply chains' exposure to forced labor. This disclosure will occur in phases, starting in September for selected suppliers, with plans to expand that list of suppliers by mid-2026.
Crowell & Moring partner David Stepp, a trade expert in the Los Angeles office, said that he and other trade lawyers have been hearing rumors about how the Trump administration will define "transshipment" in its reciprocal trade agreements. He said the rumor is that details will be released "in coming days."
The U.S. will lower tariffs on EU goods covered by the automotive Section 232 action from 25% plus the most favored nation rate to a flat 15% as soon as the European Parliament introduces legislation to eliminate its industrial tariffs. A joint statement issued by the two sides Aug. 21 said the "tariff reductions are expected to be effective from the first day of the same month in which the European Union’s legislative proposal is introduced."
EU Trade Minister Maros Sefcovic said that the EU "will need to translate key elements of the joint statement into legislative proposals," and that politicians have a "firm intention" to "present these legislative proposals and launch this process still this month."
Businesses should anticipate that even more derivative products could be added to the list of Section 232 tariffs for steel and aluminum (see 2508150063), Flexport senior trade advisory manager Anna Zajac said during an Aug. 20 company webinar on the tariffs.
The Commerce Department issued notices in the Federal Register on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on freight rail couplers and parts thereof from the Czech Republic (A-851-806) and India (A-533-940), as well as its countervailing duty investigation on freight rail couplers from India (C-533-941). The CVD investigation covers entries in calendar year 2024. The AD investigations cover entries July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.
As importers await a decision from the higher courts on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, importers should hedge themselves against any outcome, according to Jen Diaz, president of Diaz Trade Law, who was speaking on an Aug. 11 podcast hosted by the Global Training Center.
CBP has provided guidance via an Aug. 15 cargo systems message for transportation carriers and qualified parties on how to proceed with collecting duties from international mail shipments that would have been eligible for de minimis treatment.
Some companies and associations in the solar industry endorsed additional tariffs on Chinese polysilicon, but others expressed concern that allied countries will be hit with overlapping Section 232 tariffs on both imports of polysilicon and solar cells, in public comments to the Bureau of Industry and Security.
The Census Bureau is finalizing a rule that will expand the types of parties responsible for submitting export filings for in-transit shipments that are imported to the U.S. from foreign countries before being exported to another foreign destination. The agency also is adding new language to acknowledge that those parties rely on information from others to make sure the shipments comply with export controls, said it plans to eventually move forward with a new country of origin reporting requirement for in-transit exports, revised its detention for "ultimate consignee" and made other clarifications to the Foreign Trade Regulations.