CBP issued a pair of CSMS messages late June 3 clarifying the changes to the steel and aluminum tariffs.
Joseph Barloon, who was a general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during Donald Trump's first term, told Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that he believes in rules-based trade.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of May 19-25 and May 26 - June 1:
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.
President Donald Trump said that although the 25% tariffs on steel, and the recently hiked aluminum tariffs, have "helped provide critical price support" to domestic producers, the rates are not high enough to enable them "to develop and maintain the rates of capacity production utilization that are necessary for the industries' sustained health and for projected national defense needs." So those rates will increase to 50% at 12:01 a.m. EDT June 4.
Steel and aluminum and their derivatives will be subject to 50% tariffs, not 25% tariffs, President Donald Trump wrote in a proclamation. The changes take effect at 12:01 a.m. June 4.
Georgetown University law professor Jennifer Hillman said that while she expects the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to take months to decide if the tariff actions under emergency powers weren't legal, the court might not stay the vacation of the orders during that time.
President Donald Trump said at a press conference in the Oval Office that the U.S. would no longer have an economically viable country if higher courts uphold the rulings from the Court of International Trade and a U.S. district court that he doesn't have unbounded power to hike tariffs under an emergency statute.
Chapter1, a small Nevada-based importer represented by boutique litigation firm Gerstein Harrow, filed a case at the Court of International Trade on May 29 seeking class certification for all importers that have paid tariffs recently invalidated by the trade court. The suit, if successful in challenging the tariffs and establishing class certification, would provide refunds for all companies that have paid tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Chapter1 v. United States, CIT # 25-00097).
The emphasis on collecting the revenue generated from the higher tariffs levied during President Donald Trump's second term, as well as the political will behind those higher duties, are compelllng CBP to shift toward prioritizing trade enforcement over trade facilitation, trade experts told International Trade Today.