The Court of International Trade will hear arguments March 29 on whether it should issue a temporary block of recently imposed Section 232 steel tariffs as they apply to a Miami-based importer. Severstal Export Miami, a subsidiary of the Russian steel manufacturer PAO Severstal, argues that the tariffs are unconstitutional because they weren’t actually meant to address national security -- a fact purportedly belied by President Donald Trump’s own tweets -- and unenforceable for failure to provide fair notice to companies with shipments already on the water.
South Korea agreed to change "how it conducts verification of origin for U.S. products," and establish a working group to resolve future origin verification issues, as part of a deal to renegotiate U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement announced March 25. The changes come on top of an agreement by South Korea to open its auto market by lifting caps on imports that don't match South Korean safety standards (see 1803260005), according to additional details of the agreement in principle released by the U.S. Trade Representative the evening of March 27. The preliminary deal also makes other changes on auto industry trade, including that:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 19-25:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 19-23 in case they were missed.
The European Commission will open a safeguard investigation on 26 steel products, officials announced March 26, as some steel imports have been increasing over the last two years. "This trend may be even stronger now that the access to the US market has been limited and steel products from other parts of the world previously destined to the US may be redirected to Europe, disturbing the market and skewing prices." If the investigation's results support it, the EU could impose tariffs or quotas to protect its steel producers. The EU aims to complete the investigation within nine months, but left open the possibility of instituting provisional measures while the investigation is underway. The EU had earlier said it might raise tariffs on U.S. goods if the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs harmed EU producers (see 1803160026). The U.S. tariffs do not apply to the EU, but that exemption is temporary, and dependent on U.S. views on EU cooperation on trade.
The International Trade Commission on March 23 issued Revision 2 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The main reason for the update was to implement new Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel products (see 1803230060). The ITC also made technical corrections and changes related to recently imposed Section 201 safeguard duties on solar cells and residential washers. The changes, most of which took effect March 23, are as follows:
The International Trade Commission on March 23 issued Revision 2 to the 2018 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Changes, many of which take immediate effect, include provisions required to implement Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel products that took effect March 23 (see 1803230014). The ITC said it is aware of some technical issues with the documents and is "working to resolve it as quickly as possible." International Trade Today will have more details on the changes in a subsequent issue.
President Donald Trump, speaking to the press about signing the omnibus spending package for fiscal year 2018, opened by talking about negotiations with allies about exemptions from Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel. "Some tremendous trade deals are being made with various countries. We're negotiating very long very hard, but very quickly," he said. "The deal with South Korea, according to [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross and [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Lighthizer is very close to being finished, and we're going to have a wonderful deal with a wonderful ally." He said the U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement, or KORUS, as originally implemented "was a deal that was causing a lot of problems for our country with employment."
American tariffs on aluminum and steel are safeguard measures masquerading as a national security action, and therefore, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce is within its rights to prepare safeguard tariffs in response, the ministry said in a March 23 notice. The country also released a list of products that will be subject to the new tariffs. That list, which is in Chinese, is reportedly divided into two phases. The first phases would include 15% tariffs on products like nuts, wine and seamless steel pipes, while the second phase would add a 25% tariff on pork and aluminum, according to The Wall Street Journal. The notice didn't say when the tariffs would take effect.
The Commerce Department will give blanket exclusions to the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum in some cases, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said at a March 22 House Ways and Means hearing. "We do have the discretion to make broader exclusions available to all importers of those particular products if we find the circumstances warranted." Commerce may also allow for retroactivity for tariff exclusions and has asked CBP to use an "an escrow account," similar to the process for antidumping and countervailing duties, Ross said.