The U.S. filed another defense of tariff action taken under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act last week at the Court of International Trade, more fulsomely embracing the notion that the president needs tariff-setting authority under IEEPA to address a host of foreign policy issues. Opposing a group of 11 importers' motion for judgment against the reciprocal tariffs and IEEPA tariffs on China, the government argued that "the success of the Nation" in "navigating and addressing a range of extremely consequential threats" is "built off the dispatch and unitary nature of the executive, girded by necessary tools," including IEEPA tariffs (Princess Awesome v. CBP, CIT # 25-00078).
Cecilia Malmstrom, a former top European Commission trade official, said the EU is "painfully aware that the transatlantic relationship as we used to know it has been severely damaged."
The Coalition for a Prosperous America, a pro-Trump trade group, noted in its newsletter that U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer squeezed in an appearance at their annual conference between returning from talks with China in Switzerland and flying to Asia for more negotiations.
The American Association of Port Authorities, which represents 80 U.S. ports, told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that adding a 100% tariff to ship-to-shore cranes made by Chinese companies or with Chinese components will increase costs for its members without creating domestic manufacturing.
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.
Patrick Childress, former assistant general counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has joined Holland & Knight as a partner in the international trade practice, the firm announced. Childress joined the USTR general counsel office in 2020, where he advised Congress, administration officials and federal agencies on various trade matters, including "digital trade, climate, trade in automotives, foreign investment and regional matters involving Canada and Mexico," the firm said.
A group of former U.S. trade representatives, spanning the presidencies of George H.W. Bush through Barack Obama, offered support for trade deals that expand market access for American producers, though they differed on how best to achieve this.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are asking the Trump administration to share more information about their negotiations with countries after the president imposed emergency tariffs on every country.
Companies are starting to feel their way into a long-range import plan while still coping with a number of unknowns in the near term, according to a DHL official speaking during a May 12 company webinar on U.S. tariff updates.
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.