Section 232 tariffs are necessary to combat China's trade practices, the Coalition for a Prosperous America said in a July 23 report.
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., joined by two moderate Republicans, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and other Democrats, introduced a bill this week that would exempt small businesses from paying tariffs levied on Canada under the fentanyl emergency. Small businesses are defined by the Small Business Administration, based on either average employment or recent annual revenues, and some manufacturers can have as many as 1,500 employees. Small retailers, depending on the sector, may qualify with annual revenues at or below $9 million to $47 million.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., a lead sponsor of the Prevent Tariff Abuse Act, has convinced 71 other Democrats to join her in clarifying that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn't give a president the ability to impose quotas, tariff rate quotas or tariffs on imports.
Although a majority of the Senate voted to end the underlying emergency that allowed the president to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, a vote was blocked in the House.
President Donald Trump reached a deal with Japan, which reduces 25% tariffs on cars to 15% -- including the 2.5% MFN rate -- with no quota on imports, according to a poster shared by a White House official on X, and a clarification about the details of the car arrangement from Japan's prime minister.
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A joint statement from Indonesia and the U.S. sheds more light on what the president might have meant when he wrote "if there is any Transshipment from a higher Tariff Country, then that Tariff will be added on to the Tariff that Indonesia is paying."
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bill to increase funding for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative by $6 million, more than 10%, and to increase funding for the Bureau of Industry and Security, which handles Section 232 action, by $20 million -- almost 10%.
A former Mexican trade negotiator and deputy foreign affairs minister and two think-tank analysts agreed that it would have made sense for Mexico to capture more manufacturing, leaving China in the wake of President Donald Trump's initial trade war, but they said that if Mexico changes course on its energy policy and effectively tackles cargo theft, it could garner more investment.
Trade restrictions in pending Section 232 investigations for copper, lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, heavy-duty trucks, commercial aircraft and engines, polysilicon and drones are a foregone conclusion, but "exactly what those trade measures will look like" has not been decided, Steptoe's Jeff Weiss said during a firm webinar.