President Donald Trump, in a March 25 interview with Newsmax, said that while he doesn't "want to have too many exceptions" to the reciprocal tariffs, the percentage that is imposed may be lower than what the administration assesses is the total burden of tariffs and non-tariff barriers.
As the U.S., Mexico and Canada are poised to renegotiate the free trade agreement known as USMCA among the three countries, expect the U.S. to review the rules of origin and "tighten them" in favor of requiring a higher percentage of North American content, trade attorneys with Miller and Chevalier said on a March 25 webinar sponsored by public accounting firm Forvis Mazars.
President Donald Trump said at the White House that tariffs on imported autos, now at 2.5%, will go to 25%. He then signed an executive order, but that order was not yet posted online. The staffer who presented that order said the 25% tariff would be added to existing tariffs.
At a hearing largely focused on the need to get other countries to lower their tariffs, sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, and discriminatory tariffs on services exports, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee focused on Trump's tariff hikes.
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President Donald Trump promised tariffs on automobiles in the "next few days," and seemed to indicate they would be announced prior to April 2, the date he said that sector tariffs as well as reciprocal tariffs will come into effect.
Agriculture representatives from across the industry expressed nervousness at the Trump administration's current trade policy, saying that the potential for a trade war from reciprocal tariffs would devastate American farmers.
Apparel importers and retailers don't have much favor in this administration, but groups representing their interests tried to appeal to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's logical side in comments requested by the agency on the reciprocal tariffs slated for April 2. The trade group representing the greatly diminished domestic textile and apparel industry, in contrast, said reciprocal tariffs could be used to recoup $100 billion in annual lost sales.
Nearly 750 organizations and businesses gave input to the administration on trade barriers or subsidies that prevent them from reaching their sales potential.
Associations' views diverged widely on the wisdom of codifying a modified Type 86 process and tweaking the clear-from-the-manifest process for de minimis entries. Groups also disagreed on CBP's proposals for what new data should be submitted. The agency received 95 comments on its proposal, though dozens were from individuals and didn't make substantive suggestions. Some associations and companies addressed both this proposed rule and the one that would carve out sections 301 and 232 goods from de minimis. The comment period for that rule closes March 24.