Taiwan has rejected the idea of a 50-50 split in chip manufacturing recently proposed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (see 2509290046).
Pharmaceutical tariffs were not applied on Oct. 1, as previously threatened by the Trump administration (see 2509250066), to give companies time to continue negotiating and begin on-shoring their manufacturing, according to recent statements by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The Commerce Department released its shutdown contingency plan on Sept. 29, which stated that only 60 out of 1,272 International Trade Association employees are excepted from furlough as "most services and activities" of the agency will cease, though the Bureau of Industry and Security's work on Section 232 investigations will continue.
Pfizer announced that, after agreeing to expand manufacturing and change its pricing strategy, its imported drugs will not be tariffed.
Tariff preferences for sub-Saharan African countries and two of the three tariff preference programs for Haiti ended Oct. 1. In a hallway interview at the Capitol, Senate Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said that he "would love to [renew both] retroactively."
CBP expects to continue to implement new Section 232 tariffs should the government shutdown persist past the effective date of any new tariffs, officials said on an Oct. 1 call with the trade to discuss the government shutdown. CBP also plans to implement expected tariffs, such as the ones for lumber and furniture that take effect Oct. 14, without delays.
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The chief negotiator for the European Union, Maros Sefcovic, said that while the EU has a reputation for having "very complicated rules and regulations," that doesn't compare to the burden on companies trying to quantify how much steel (and its cost at the time it was sourced) went into making a Bosch refrigerator, Miele dishwasher or a BMW motorcycle.
Section 232 tariffs on timber, lumber and their derivatives will take effect Oct. 14, under a proclamation issued by President Donald Trump. Tariffs will be set at 10% for timber and lumber, 25% for upholstered furniture and 25% on wooden cabinets and vanities.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that while the administration doesn't expect to lose its tariff case at the Supreme Court, "wherever we end up," the approach will be similar to what it is now.