As reciprocal tariffs against imports from China and Hong Kong fall from 125% to 10% for 90 days as the U.S. and China seek to hash out a trade deal (see 2505120006), so are Southern California port volumes and trans-Pacific freight rates reflected the volatility seen in the trade space.
President Donald Trump reacted to a Walmart earnings call that warned prices will go up as a result of recent tariffs, saying on social media: "Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, 'EAT THE TARIFFS,' and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!"
Gibson Dunn brought a suit to the Court of International Trade on behalf of a small Michigan-based importer, Detroit Axle, to challenge President Donald Trump's revocation of the de minimis threshold for Chinese goods. The complaint, filed on May 16, argues that Trump exceeded his statutory authority in eliminating de minimis for goods from China and acted arbitrarily and capriciously in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (Axle of Dearborn, d/b/a Detroit Axle v. Dep't of Commerce, CIT # 25-00091).
Five senators, both Republicans and Democrats, asked Jamieson Greer, then the U.S. trade representative nominee, to advocate for a formal exclusion process to tariffs, as was done for the Section 301 tariffs in Trump's first term. These written exchanges were recently posted at the Senate Finance Committee website, long after Greer's confirmation vote.
Section 232 investigations are "moving much, much quicker" in the second Trump administration, trade lawyer Daniel Cannistra said May 14 on a podcast.
While traveling in the Gulf States in the Middle East, President Donald Trump again said that negotiators in his administration don't have time to meet with every country subject to reciprocal tariffs ahead of the 90-day deadline for those tariffs to snap back into place. So, he said, he will be telling some countries what their tariff rates will be in two or three weeks.
The EU is prepared to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. aircraft and bourbon to avoid "just being a market for U.S. products," an EU trade official said on May 15.
A reduction in reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods to 10% has not ended the harm to families that need to stock up for new babies, Congress's "Dads Caucus" argued at a press conference May 15.
Trade groups representing three strong exporting sectors -- soybeans, semiconductors and medical devices -- and an expert in critical minerals trade all told the Senate Finance Committee that higher tariffs on all countries and products, and constantly changing tariff policy, aren't good for American competitiveness.
CBP released a notice outlining refund procedures to implement President Donald Trump’s April 29 executive order on tariff stacking. The notice says that, beginning May 16, importers may request refunds on entries on or after March 4 by way of a post-summary correction for unliquidated entries or a protest for entries that have been liquidated but where the protest period hasn’t expired.