A senior Chinese Commerce Ministry trade official met with representatives from more than 20 U.S. companies in Bejing on April 6 to discuss the Trump administration's "abuse of tariffs" and Beijing's retaliatory measures (see 2504040024), according to an unofficial translation of the ministry's readout of the meeting. Ling Ji, China's vice commerce minister, said he hopes American companies will "take practical actions" and "jointly maintain the stability of the global production and supply chain." He also said Beijing is committed to multilateralism. The U.S. tariffs have "seriously damaged the rules-based multilateral trading system and seriously infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of all countries," the official said. The meeting featured officials from Tesla, GE Healthcare, Medtronic and others, China said.
Canada filed a dispute consultation request with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization on April 7, alleging that the U.S. government's 25% additional tariff on automobiles and automobile parts violate WTO obligations. The request said the duties "appear to be inconsistent with" U.S. obligations under Articles II and VIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.
The European Commission has proposed 25% retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. goods in response to the tariffs on steel and aluminum President Donald Trump imposed last month (see 2503120042), according to a document seen by Reuters, the news service reported April 7.
Momentum is building for a bill that would prevent President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on lumber, semiconductors or medicines without congressional approval -- if the bill could overcome a presidential veto before those tariffs are imposed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at a joint press conference at the White House with President Donald Trump, told reporters: "I said to the president, we will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States. We intend to do it very quickly. We think it's the right thing to do. And we're going to also eliminate trade barriers, variety of trade barriers that have been put up unnecessarily.
White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Stephen Miran is defending the formula used to impose reciprocal tariffs -- taking the trade deficit, dividing it by the amount of exports to a country, and dividing the result in two.
The Liberty Justice Center, a conservative litigation firm, issued a call for plaintiffs to challenge President Donald Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on all goods entering the U.S. The group is looking to challenge this use of IEEPA "under the major questions and nondelegation doctrines."
President Donald Trump posted on social media that "if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th." Also, "all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!" he said. "Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately."
President Donald Trump declared that if China doesn't withdraw its 34% retaliatory tariff hike, "above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th. Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated! Negotiations with other countries, which have also requested meetings, will begin taking place immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
A recent rise in tariffs, export controls and other trade actions will lead to rising prices in semiconductor supply chains, said Sree Ramaswamy, former senior adviser to former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.