Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada is dropping its retaliatory tariffs on American exports -- except for those in steel, aluminum and autos -- as long as those U.S. goods qualify for USMCA.
President Donald Trump said on social media: "I am pleased to announce that we are doing a major Tariff Investigation on Furniture coming into the United States. Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined."
President Donald Trump said, "over the next two weeks, we're going to find out which way it's going to go," referring to efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump, who was answering reporters' questions Aug. 22 in the Oval Office clarified that he'd make a decision on whether Russia needs to be punished for resisting a settlement, or whether he washes his hands of the effort.
The U.S. is using "magical thinking" as the basis for its defense in the case against the legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, said Rick Woldenberg, CEO of Hand2Mind and Learning Resources, the plaintiffs in the suit currently at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Crowell & Moring partner David Stepp, a trade expert in the Los Angeles office, said that he and other trade lawyers have been hearing rumors about how the Trump administration will define "transshipment" in its reciprocal trade agreements. He said the rumor is that details will be released "in coming days."
EU Trade Minister Maros Sefcovic said that the EU "will need to translate key elements of the joint statement into legislative proposals," and that politicians have a "firm intention" to "present these legislative proposals and launch this process still this month."
The president of the American Soybean Association told President Donald Trump that soybean farmers "cannot survive a prolonged trade dispute with our largest customer," urging him to have his trade team persuade China to drop its 20% tariff on American soybeans.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that details in writing on the South Korean and Japanese trade deals will come in "kind of weeks."
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.
Less than two weeks ago, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to impose an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods because that country is importing Russian oil, and Russia's actions in Ukraine are "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." He said that if Russia were to "take significant steps to address the national emergency described in section 1 of this order and align sufficiently with the United States on national security, foreign policy, and economic matters, I may further modify this order."