Mexican media reported that President Claudia Sheinbaum said in her daily press conference that Mexico will try to get an exemption from the announced 25% tariff on medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, in trying to elaborate on the "significant tariff relief" he said was coming for domestic car production, said that the administration is considering how to "open the aperture" of how you use the 3.75% offset of tariffs available for autos assembled between April 3 and May 1, 2026.
Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit pressed counsel for importer Blue Sky the Color of Imagination and the government during oral argument on Oct. 7 in the importer's customs classification suit on its notebooks with calendars. During the argument, Judges Alan Lourie, Raymond Chen and William Bryson grappled with whether the court is bound by its 2010 ruling in Mead v. U.S. and whether the goods are properly classified as calendars or diaries (Blue Sky The Color of Imagination v. U.S., Fed. Cir. # 24-1710).
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The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security posted 95 requests for inclusions of new tariff subheadings under 50% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives. Comments on the inclusion requests are due in 14 days, on Oct. 21, and the postings also kick off a 60-day period for BIS to consider the requests.
The Bureau of Industry and Security posted more requests for new products to be included as derivatives subject to Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum products. The release of the requests starts a two-week comment period for the potential inclusions, with comments on each due Oct. 21.
Chris Duncan, former partner at Stein Shostak, has joined Squire Patton in the international trade and foreign investment practice group in the firm's Los Angeles office, the firm announced. Prior to joining Stein Shostak, Duncan worked for 16 years at CBP as a senior attorney, most recently holding the position of assistant chief counsel in San Francisco. Duncan works on a host of customs issues, including on classification, Section 301 tariffs, valuation, country of origin and marking rules, the firm said.
Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to defend his assessment that "adequate systems were in place to 'fully and expeditiously process and collect duties for articles otherwise eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment on a global basis'" by July 30.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to expand trade actions started with the Section 232 investigation on pharmaceuticals, so that they cover generic drugs and the active pharmaceutical ingredients and key starting materials in those medicines.
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!"