International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The additional 50% tariffs that President Donald Trump threatened on China if Beijing doesn't rescind its retaliatory tariffs (see 2504070016) will take effect at 12:01 a.m. April 9, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during an April 8 press conference. "They will be going into effect at 12:01 a.m. tonight, so effectively tomorrow," she said when asked if the executive order to impose them had already been signed. No executive order had been issued as of press time.
President Donald Trump shared on social media April 8 that he'd just talked to South Korea's acting president on the phone, and they had discussed not just trade and possible purchases that would lower Korea's trade surplus, but also payment for U.S. military bases in their country.
After a resolution to roll back the tariffs on Canada passed the Senate, Senate Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., are pushing for a similar vote to end reciprocal tariffs and a global 10% tariff, as are 26 Democrats in the House.
Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee mostly stood by President Donald Trump's dramatic tariff moves, though many emphasized that the result should be lower non-tariff barriers for U.S. agricultural exports, not a permanent tariff wall around the U.S. economy.
The reciprocal tariff on China will be set at 84% when it takes effect at 12:01 a.m. tonight, said CBP in an emailed CSMS message. That reflects an additional 50% tariff announced by President Donald Trump in response to Chinese retaliatory tariffs, on top of the 34% initially set for China.
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.