Although potential reciprocal tariff increases have been pushed back to Aug. 1, ocean spot rates between Asia and the U.S. West Coast have been falling, suggesting a relaxation in demand for shipping containers, according to two companies tracking ocean rates.
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bill to increase funding for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative by $6 million, more than 10%, and to increase funding for the Bureau of Industry and Security, which handles Section 232 action, by $20 million -- almost 10%.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., is trying to force votes in the House to end the emergency that justifies reciprocal tariffs and on a bill that would hike tariffs to 500% on Russian products.
U.S. retailers will move their supply chains out of Africa and into Asia should Congress not renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act or change the third-country fabric provision for the region, according to trade groups representing domestic U.S. apparel retailers.
Trade restrictions in pending Section 232 investigations for copper, lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, heavy-duty trucks, commercial aircraft and engines, polysilicon and drones are a foregone conclusion, but "exactly what those trade measures will look like" has not been decided, Steptoe's Jeff Weiss said during a firm webinar.
Trade observers are waiting for more information about whether Aug. 1 tariffs on Canada and Mexico will include goods that currently qualify for duty-free treatment under USMCA, according to comments by Flexport officials during a July 16 webinar.
Former top trade negotiator Wendy Cutler, who, as a career employee in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative led on the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said that South Korea can't make concessions to avoid 25% tariffs on its exports if the 25% Section 232 tariffs on autos and 50% tariffs on steel go unchanged in the deal.
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President Donald Trump said the trade deal he and Indonesia's president reached will provide U.S. exporters "full access," access exporters never had.
The Port of Los Angeles could experience one last import surge ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline for the White House's potential rate increases on its reciprocal tariffs, port Executive Director Gene Seroka said during the port's monthly cargo briefing.