Lack of coordination between the U.S. and the EU on trade policy will make it tougher to confront the economic threat posed by China, experts warned at a conference co-hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
After the Trump administration released a memo outlining the scope of trade action to be taken during his term, one thing became clear, according to a variety of trade attorneys: antidumping duty and countervailing duty rates are about to soar.
Dan Stirk, former chief counsel for litigation in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has joined Picard Kentz as counsel in the international trade practice, the firm announced. Stirk served as an attorney-adviser at USTR for nearly 18 years, covering World Trade Organization and free trade agreement dispute settlement proceedings, compliance proceedings and arbitration, the firm said.
The Commerce Department is ending antidumping duties on a Vietnamese fish exporter after reaching an agreement with the government of Vietnam to end a related World Trade Organization dispute. Effective Aug. 1, 2021, Commerce is partially revoking Vinh Hoan Corporation from the AD order on frozen fish fillets from Vietnam (A-552-801). The agency will order liquidation of any unliquidated entries produced and exported by Vinh Hoan on or after that effective date, and will direct CBP to refund any AD cash deposits on those entries and stop collecting AD cash deposits on future entries.
A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the House that would require that the minimum tariff charged on Chinese goods be 35%, that tariffs higher than 35% in Column 2 of HTS be applied to some Chinese imports, 100% tariffs on hundreds of items on the Section 301 target list, and that the bound rates for U.S. tariffs, as declared at the World Trade Organization, should be changed to Column 2 for all countries.
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala asked members of the international trade community at the World Economic Forum to stop "hyperventilating" about proposed tariffs from the Trump administration while warning that tariffs won't bring about the desired effects.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who voted against USMCA because he felt it moved too much in the direction of managed trade, told an audience at a Council on Foreign Relations event Jan. 23 that, despite all of his talk of tariffs, "a lot of folks will be surprised at the extent to which President [Donald] Trump will pursue broad, aggressive tariffs."
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said his trade priorities for the next two years are supporting the negotiation of comprehensive free trade deals that expand market access for American producers, supporting the negotiation of digital trade rules and intellectual property protections, and reauthorizing key trade programs.
The U.S. warned World Trade Organization members this week against adjudicating national security matters, saying in a communication that they should instead bring a "non-violation claim" that would allow for the rebalancing of trade concessions and avoid "dragging" members into debates over political issues.
President-elect Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary nominee, hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent, has talked about tariffs as a way to "escalate to de-escalate," with the goal of "getting rid of all the tariffs."