Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and Don Beyer, D-Va., reintroduced a bill that would remove the possibility of a president using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act to impose quotas or tariffs. Most lawyers think Trump would use IEEPA for a global tariff. The statute is currently used to impose sanctions on parties in Iran, Belarus, Burma, Ethiopia and dozens of other countries.
Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for treasury secretary, told the Senate Finance Committee that they should think about how tariffs will be deployed by thinking of three categories.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in a Jan. 15 speech at the Detroit Auto Show, criticized President-elect Donald Trump's proposal to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian exports as one that would damage Michigan's auto sector, which employs, or leads to indirect employment of, more than a million people in the state -- a fifth of the workforce.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that senators are starting to have conversations about what incoming President Donald Trump might do on tariffs, and said, "We'll work through that."
Kevin Brady, who led the House Ways and Means Committee when Congress passed the Trump tax cut package, told reporters that Washington insiders expect "the [next Trump] administration will reinstate [Section] 301 investigations" that were begun when countries moved to collect digital services taxes from U.S. tech firms.
Officials advising Donald Trump on his upcoming administration have been considering tariffs that would gradually increase by 2% to 5% a month, according to a Bloomberg News article based on unnamed sources. The proposal could boost negotiating leverage and avoid a spike in prices, the planners believe. The article said the proposal is in its early phases and hasn't been presented to the president-elect.
President-elect Donald Trump announced plans Jan. 14 to establish an "External Revenue Service" that would collect monies from tariffs, duties and all revenue coming from foreign sources, in a Truth Social post.
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.
U.S. imports got a boost in December and are likely to be elevated in January compared with year-ago levels, according to the National Retail Federation, as retailers brought in spring merchandise early to hedge against the potential of a labor strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast terminals -- a strike threat that was averted this week (see 2501090003).
The Coalition for a Prosperous America, an advocacy group aligned with President-elect Donald Trump's trade and manufacturing policies, is calling on his administration to reinstate Section 232 tariffs on Mexican steel. "If Mexico continues to breach its commitments, CPA urges the Trump administration to reconsider Mexico’s participation in USMCA altogether," the group wrote in a release issued Jan. 10.