Former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania Pat Toomey, who was one of the strongest advocates of free trade when he served in the Senate, told a moderator from the American Enterprise Institute that he doesn't believe Congress will pass more detailed legislation to curtail agencies' leeway to write regulations. A Supreme Court decision said judges will have more authority to overrule regulations, as the deference they had given to reasonable regulation is no longer the judicial branch's baseline.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, in a sit-down interview with Bloomberg shortly before the attempt on his life, argued that tariffs are "phenomenal" economically -- "and man, is it good for negotiation."
CBP has released its July 17 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 28). Among a number of general notices published in the bulletin are a notice of issuance of a final determination concerning a DisplayPort male-to-female video adapter (see 2407010033), and a notice of the revocation of nine ruling letters and the revocation of treatment relating to the tariff classification of wireless headphone sets from China, Mexico and an undisclosed country of origin (see 2404240061).
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill that would impose 150% tariffs on electromagnets, permanent magnets, batteries, solar panels, and solar wafers made by entities controlled by China, even if those products were manufactured in other countries. The Critical Mineral Supply Chain Realignment Act of 2024 also would keep hiking tariffs on those goods made in China, to 300% in the second year, 450% in the third year, and 800% after that.
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.
CBP affirmed an earlier ruling that hand sanitizer dispensing stations manufactured in China should be classified for tariff purposes as “other furniture” instead of parts of mechanical appliances suited for projecting liquids, according to an agency decision rendered April 26.
Brazil, the largest exporter of semifinished steel to Mexico after the U.S., won't be subject to the melted and poured restriction the two countries recently announced, the Mexican government disclosed last week. Aluminum cast in Brazil and steel melted and poured there won't be subject to Section 232 tariffs if they are processed in Mexico and exported to the U.S.
The government of Mexico has asked the U.S. to exempt Mexican bifacial solar panels from a global safeguard tariff. Economy Secretary Raquel Buenrostro noted that USMCA, or T-MEC, as they call it in Mexico, has rules in this regard. The July 12 press release didn't spell it out, but safeguards are only to be applied to Mexico and Canada if their imports are integral to the injury to U.S. producers; the U.S. eventually reversed the solar panel safeguard on all Canadian panels (see 2207070041).
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register July 15 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
Although it's possible presidential candidate Donald Trump was just riffing when he proposed eliminating the federal income tax and replacing the revenue with tariffs, the White House Council of Economic Advisers is countering the idea with a white paper it issued July 12.