International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories from Aug. 3-7 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
As Canadians consider which of 68 aluminum-containing products to put on a tariff retaliation list, U.S. industrial producers and buyers of aluminum reacted with dismay to the news that a large segment of Canadian aluminum imports will face a 10% tariff starting Aug. 16.
The Commerce Department must reconsider its decision to deny an importer’s requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel tariffs, and flesh out the scant rationale the agency offered alongside the denials, the Court of International Trade said in an Aug. 5 decision.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told the United Steelworkers trade union that a core part of his trade strategy “will be to enlist our international allies to collectively tackle unfair practices by China in order to ensure American steelworkers have good, plentiful union jobs. Trump has humiliated and infuriated our allies.”
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 13-19:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories from July 13-17 in case they were missed.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said during a conference call with reporters July 17 he doesn't know if the U.S. trade representative and Canada have resolved their differences over Canadian aluminum imports. The USTR has said that he was consulting with Canada about a surge of imports. Some news outlets reported three weeks ago that he would re-impose 10% tariffs on aluminum, but so far that has not happened (see 2006250048).
Next year's funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security aims to fix staffing shortages at ports of entry, International Mail Facilities, and Express Consignment Facilities by adding funding for 750 new CBP officers, 200 agricultural specialists, 30 operational support staff and 70 mission support staff. It also dedicates $8 million for trade agreement, remedies and enforcement personnel “to strengthen enforcement actions and processes that prevent the importation of products made with forced labor,” the report accompanying the bill said.
The president must strictly adhere to statutory timelines when setting Section 232 tariffs, and can’t subsequently modify or adjust those tariffs beyond those legal deadlines without conducting another formal investigation, the Court of International Trade said in a July 14 decision. The court found that President Donald Trump acted outside of these deadlines when he raised tariffs on Turkish steel from 25% to 50% in August 2018 (see 1808100003), granting two importers refunds of duties collected as a result of the tariff increase.
President Donald Trump's 2018 proclamation increasing the Section 232 tariffs on steel from Turkey violated "the animating statute and constitutional guarantees," a three-judge Court of International Trade panel said in a July 14 decision. The judges found that the proclamation fell outside the required time limits for making changes and Trump "acted without a proper report and recommendation by the [Commerce] Secretary on the national security threat posed by imports of steel products from Turkey."