House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., told an audience of trade professionals that while he appreciates the complaint that CBP cannot adequately screen packages that enter under de minimis, he thinks if de minimis is tightened, it could make enforcement even more difficult.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that talking about tariffs more than other aspects of trade policy is, to a large degree, "a red herring," and said reducing U.S. trade policy "down to a conversation about tariffs is really unfair."
Former President Donald Trump, in a television appearance with Maria Bartiromo, bragged about the "big tariffs" he put in to stop the import of Chinese steel, and denied a Washington Post report that he is thinking about imposing a flat 60% tariff on Chinese imports if reelected.
Japan, which suffered economic coercion from China earlier than any other country, is largely on the same page as the U.S. when it comes to supply chain resilience and restrictions on exports, but the two diverge in their attitudes about China's role in the global economy.
Ending most favored nation status for Chinese imports -- as advocated for by the House Select Committee on China and some other China hawks in Congress -- would increase consumer prices for laptops and smart phones by more than $100, and cause purchases of those goods to fall sharply, according to a recent study commissioned by the Consumer Technology Association.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 18 updated guidance related to an expanded ban on imports of Russian seafood announced in December (see 2312220007). The update to OFAC’s frequently asked question adds several new tariff subheadings to the lists of tariff provisions for pollock and other seafood to which the ban may apply.
Both Asian countries and American businesses had hoped that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework could be a step on the road to lowering tariffs, trade experts said during a webinar on the future of IPEF, but now they're wondering if there will be any economically significant effect at all from talks about trade facilitation, green transition and supply chain resilience.
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U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark criticized the Biden administration for not only choosing to avoid tariff liberalizing trade negotiations, but also for walking away from long-time positions on digital trade provisions. Clark, who was speaking at a press conference after the Chamber's annual State of American Business event, declined to say whether a second Donald Trump administration or another term of Joe Biden would be worse on trade.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who warned the White House that reducing the scope of the Section 301 tariff list or reducing tariff levels "could undermine efforts to shore up our domestic manufacturing and supply chains," said he doesn't know the details of what products might leave the target list if the White House hikes tariffs on electric vehicles or their batteries.