President Donald Trump railed against the trade stance of the European Union, as he often has, as he talked about tariffs and trade deficits with reporters as he signed executive orders on the first day of his second term.
On his first day in office, the president directed the heads of agencies that deal with trade, tariff collection and trade remedies to:
No goods subject to special trade remedies -- 99.9% of which are subject to Section 301 tariffs -- would be able to enter as de minimis shipments under a proposed rule released by CBP Jan. 17.
Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Don Beyer, D-Va., reintroduced a bill that would remove the possibility of a president using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act to impose quotas or tariffs. Most lawyers think Trump would use IEEPA for a global tariff. The statute is currently used to impose sanctions on parties in Iran, Belarus, Burma, Ethiopia and dozens of other countries.
Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for treasury secretary, told the Senate Finance Committee that they should think about how tariffs will be deployed by thinking of three categories.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America, an advocacy group aligned with President-elect Donald Trump's trade and manufacturing policies, is calling on his administration to reinstate Section 232 tariffs on Mexican steel. "If Mexico continues to breach its commitments, CPA urges the Trump administration to reconsider Mexico’s participation in USMCA altogether," the group wrote in a release issued Jan. 10.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Dec. 16-22 and 23-29:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Court of International Trade on Dec. 19 declined to grant victory to G&H Diversified Manufacturing on the importer's claims that CBP previously, as part of its role in granting a Section 232 duty exclusion, already said the company's imports were subject to the exclusion. Judge Timothy Reif said open questions of fact still exist with regard to the extent of CBP's role in the exclusion process.
Donald Trump's return to the White House brings a "lack of predictability," Baker McKenzie attorneys said during a webinar last week on how threatened tariffs could affect countries around the globe.