CBP recently offered guidance on how customs brokers and importers should apply 40% duties on goods imported from Brazil, following the White House's implementation of stiffer tariffs on the country (see 2507300066).
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he doesn't think there will be more deals announced before Aug. 7, when reciprocal tariffs will rise on about 70 countries.
Multiple countries said they're still assessing the impact of the new U.S. tariffs that took effect Aug. 1 (see 2507310081), although some that agreed to deals, including the EU and South Korea, said they now have more stability for their industries.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in two television interviews Aug. 1, defended a surprise 39% rate for Swiss exports and said his focus isn't on reaching new settlements before reciprocal tariffs begin collection Aug. 7. Rather, he said, "We're really focused right now on implementing the deals that have been reached."
All active judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 31 heard oral argument in the lead case on the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The 11 judges peppered counsel for the government and the parties challenging the tariffs, which include five importers and 12 U.S. states, with questions about whether the statute authorizes tariffs at all; whether there are limits to that tariff authority, should it exist; and whether the major questions or non-delegation doctrines strip IEEPA of its ability to convey tariff authority (V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).
The Court of International Trade on July 29 denied importers Johanna Foods' and Johanna Beverage Company's application for a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump's threatened 50% tariff on Brazil. Judge Timothy Reif held that the importers failed to show "a likelihood that immediate and irreparable harm would occur before the threatened August 1, 2025 tariff" (Johanna Foods v. Executive Office of the President of the United States, CIT # 25-00155).
The ability to import low-value packages duty-free will end for goods from around the world on Aug. 29, the president declared in an executive order July 30.
The scope of the Section 232 copper tariffs is narrower than was expected, as the 50% rate only applies to semi-finished copper products, such as copper pipes, wires, rods, sheets, and tubes, and products that use a lot of copper, such as pipe fittings, cables, connector and electrical components -- not to copper ores, concentrates, mattes, cathodes, anodes, or copper scrap.
President Donald Trump proclaimed that semi-finished copper products and copper derivative products will be subject to a 50% tariff starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT Aug. 1.
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