Orange juice importers Johanna Foods and Johanna Beverage Company on July 22 asked the Court of International Trade to either temporarily, preliminarily or permanently enjoin the federal government from "imposing and enforcing" President Donald Trump's threatened 50% tariff on Brazil. Filing a combined application for a temporary restraining order and motions for a preliminary or permanent injunction, Johanna Foods and Johanna Beverage said the tariff isn't a proper exercise of either Section 301 or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (Johanna Foods v. Executive Office of the President of the United States of America, CIT # 25-00155).
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Although potential reciprocal tariff increases have been pushed back to Aug. 1, ocean spot rates between Asia and the U.S. West Coast have been falling, suggesting a relaxation in demand for shipping containers, according to two companies tracking ocean rates.
The Court of International Trade on July 18 granted the government's motion for default judgment against importer Rayson Global and its owner Doris Cheng for negligently failing to pay ordinary, Section 301 and antidumping duties on its innerspring entries. Judge Timothy Stanceu granted the motion, after previously rejecting it for insufficiently pleaded facts, ordering Rayson and Cheng to pay a nearly $3.4 million penalty and all unpaid duties, taxes and cash deposits on the unliquidated entries in the case (U.S. v. Rayson Global, Inc. and Doris Cheng, CIT # 23-00201).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launched a Section 301 investigation on Brazilian policies that discriminate against American firms, naming these issues:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of July 7-13:
Domestic shrimpers, crawfish harvesters and the Oregon Trawl Commission asked the U.S. trade representative to open a Section 301 investigation to address the unfair trade practice of using "banned veterinary drugs in farm-raised seafood production from China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam" for seafood exported to the U.S.
The Commerce Department is launching a pair of Section 232 investigations into imports of drones and polysilicon from China, according to notices released July 14. Comments are due on Aug. 6 for polysilicon and its derivatives and for drones and their parts.
President Donald Trump posted a letter to Brazil's president, telling him: "Due in part to Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans," Brazilian exports will face a 50% reciprocal tariff on Aug. 1.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with CNBC on July 3 that the Vietnam deal is "finalized in principle" and that 20% will replace the current 10% reciprocal tariff. As for which goods will be subject to 40% tariffs, Bessent didn't add any clarity. "A huge amount of the trade that comes from Vietnam is what’s called transshipment from China," he said. "We’ll see what happens with the transshipment."