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.
A bill being considered in the House Ways and Means Committee that would extend Trump tax cuts that would otherwise expire at the end of the year is looking to international trade to pay for part of the cost of income tax reductions. The bill also adds new tax breaks, such as on overtime pay and tips.
CBP released guidance on the decrease of the reciprocal tariff rate on China to 10% beginning at 12:01 a.m. EDT on May 14. As provided in the executive order issued by President Donald Trump the previous day, the guidance says filers of entries from China, Hong Kong and Macau after the effective date should report subheading 9903.01.25, which is the subheading for the 10% universal tariff applicable to almost all countries.
The Court of International Trade on May 13 heard arguments in the lead case on the president's ability to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Judges Jane Restani, Gary Katzmann and Timothy Reif pressed counsel for the plaintiffs, the Liberty Justice Center's Jeffrey Schwab, and DOJ attorney Eric Hamilton on whether the court can review whether a declared emergency is "unusual and extraordinary," as well as the applicability of Yoshida International v. U.S., a key precedential decision on the issue, and whether the major questions doctrine applies and controls the case (V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, CIT # 25-00066).
President Donald Trump touted his plan to get foreign health purchasers to pay more for pharmaceuticals, and U.S. consumers to pay less, as he signed an executive order seeking to equalize those prices.
The reduction of the reciprocal tariff on China from 125% to 10% will take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on May 14, said President Donald Trump in an executive order. The decrease will not be retroactive.
The Trump administration is leaving 20% tariffs levied in response to fentanyl smuggling in place, while reducing what had been 125% reciprocal tariffs to just 10%, the same as all reciprocal tariffs globally.
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., introduced a bill to require notification of Congress and provide justification for tariffs enacted through presidential action.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are teaming to introduce a bill called the Truth in Tariffs Act.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, in a press briefing on May 8, told a reporter that even after the negotiations are done with the U.K., the president is not open to removing an additional 10% tariff on nearly all British goods. Countries like the U.K., that buy more U.S. goods than they export to the U.S., were hit with 10% tariffs, on the argument that if their trade barriers were lower, they would buy even more.