Timely news and analysis of the latest developments in international trade law
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced today more Section 301 tariff exclusions for certain imported Chinese products appearing on List 3. These products have been subject to Section 301 tariffs since September 24, 2018. The USTR determined that two 10-digit subheadings will be excluded in their entirety:
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In an October 28, 2019 memorandum for Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, the Department of Commerce’s Office of Inspector General (IG) issued a “management alert” over concerns about the “lack of transparency that contributes to the appearance of improper influence in decision-making” for the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusion process. While not requesting…
In a series of notices, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) granted exclusions from Section 301 tariffs for certain imported Chinese products on List 1 (valued at $34 billion), List 2 (valued at $16 billion and List 3 (valued at $200 billion). Products on these lists currently face a 25 percent Section 301…
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a press statement announcing the list of imports from China that will face a Section 301 10 percent tariff (see also Trump and Trade Update of May 14, 2019). Implementation of the tariff on approximately $300 billion worth of Chinese products will occur in two phases. For most…
According to recently released U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, the agency has assessed, as a result of tariffs implemented through U.S. government actions under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Sections 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, approximately $30.9 billion in import duties as of July…
On July 15, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials, to further promote the principles underlying the Buy American Act of 1933. In remarks to the press, the president stated that “Early in my presidency, I ordered the federal government to live by two very…
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has published an Interim Final Rule in the Federal Register announcing that it has developed a specific portal (i.e., the ‘‘232 Exclusions Portal’’) for persons submitting exclusion requests, objections to exclusion requests, rebuttals and surrebuttals to replace the use of the federal rulemaking portal (…
On May 17, 2019, the United States, Canada and Mexico concluded an agreement in which the United States agreed to remove the Section 232 tariffs for steel and aluminum imports from those countries and Canada and Mexico agreed to remove all retaliatory tariffs imposed on U.S. goods. Accordingly, President Donald Trump issued proclamations declaring that…
President Donald Trump has announced further action against Iran by imposing sanctions on its iron, steel, aluminum and copper sectors, the country’s largest non-petroleum-related sources of export revenue. In an executive order, the president implemented blocking sanctions on any person determined by the secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the secretary of State,…
A World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel ruling, Russia – Measures Concerning Traffic in Transit, issued last week on a member’s use of the WTO’s so-called “national security exception” under Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) may have a significant impact on the Trump administration’s application of…
