President Donald Trump said on social media early May 9, "80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B." He was referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who will meet with China's vice premier in Switzerland on Saturday and Sunday to talk trade.
The European Commission opened a public consultation regarding a list of U.S. imports that could become subject to tariffs in response to the flurry of U.S. trade action, should talks with the White House fall through, the commission announced. The list covers over $107 billion worth of U.S. imports, including a "broad range of industrial and agricultural products," it said.
After President Donald Trump spoke May 8 about a trade deal with the U.K., he took questions from reporters, and one asked whether the U.S. will lower tariffs on China if talks involving Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China's vice premier go well over the weekend.
CBP cannot unilaterally decide to reliquidate entries that were erroneously liquidated while subject to a suspension order from the Court of International Trade, the trade court held on May 8. Judge Gary Katzmann said an "enjoined party is not empowered to choose and implement the remedy for its own violations of an injunction," writing that that power is the court's alone.
The chaotic situation that importers and customs brokers have been facing as tariff policy swings wildly from one extreme to the next is partially due to the fact that CBP is unable to influence policy in the Trump administration, Pete Mento, director of customs and international trade at DSV, said on May 8. Decisions about tariffs are made without expert insight into how their actual implementation will affect the broader trade community, he said.
President Donald Trump said at a press conference May 8 that Rolls-Royce engines and other British aerospace exports will enter duty-free, but the 10% tariffs on British goods will remain in place on all other goods under a tariff deal with the U.K.
A U.S.-U.K. trade deal announced in the Oval Office leaves the average tariff on U.K. goods at 10%; however, aerospace engines and parts will enter duty-free.
Under aggressive questioning from Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that exempting tariffs on car seats, cribs, high chairs and other essential baby items "is under consideration."
Vice President JD Vance, at a Q&A with Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the U.S., said it should be "very, very easy" to talk with officials at the EU about the bloc lowering its regulatory barriers to trade and its approach to U.S. tech giants.
President Donald Trump, responding to a reporter's quote from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that the administration is considering tariff exemptions for car seats from China [see Ref:2505060052]), said he doesn't know if he wants to do that.