President Donald Trump said on social media: "I am pleased to announce that we are doing a major Tariff Investigation on Furniture coming into the United States. Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined."
President Donald Trump said, "over the next two weeks, we're going to find out which way it's going to go," referring to efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump, who was answering reporters' questions Aug. 22 in the Oval Office clarified that he'd make a decision on whether Russia needs to be punished for resisting a settlement, or whether he washes his hands of the effort.
Postal operators in Australia and Europe reportedly are halting low-value shipments to the U.S. in response to the end of the de minimis exemption on Aug. 29 (see 2507300046).
The U.S. is using "magical thinking" as the basis for its defense in the case against the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, said Rick Woldenberg, CEO of Hand2Mind and Learning Resources, the plaintiffs in the suit currently at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
CBP is starting to list on its website which qualified parties acting in lieu of a carrier have been qualified by CBP to collect and pay duty on international mail that previously would have been eligible for the de minimis exemption, according to an Aug. 21 cargo systems message. Additional parties seeking to be certified as a qualified party should follow the process outlined in the agency's Aug. 15 guidance, which includes submitting a CBP Form 5106, obtaining a bond and fulfilling other requirements, CBP said in the message. The list will be updated as new qualified parties are certified.
Lawyers with extensive experience in Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions said that CBP processes have been changing, and that companies should stress test how quickly they can get documents about materials from their suppliers and suppliers' suppliers, and how quickly they can understand all they've been given and send the right documents to CBP.
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."
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."
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."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that while he expects more trade talks with China in the next two months, the administration is "very happy" with the current combination of Section 301 tariffs, 20% fentanyl tariffs and 10% reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods, he said.