Mara Lee

A group of 80 trade associations has asked for exclusions to Section 301 Chinese tariffs to be liberally granted, including that they be granted automatically to all importers who have a "binding 'signed purchase order' to procure products from a supplier in China" if that order was signed before July 6.

Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said he's hopeful the U.S. and Mexico "will be able to close up no later than the middle of the week the remaining issues" on their NAFTA renegotiations and that trilateral discussions would then start. As to what those remaining issues are, Guajardo spoke elliptically, as he left the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Aug. 17, about government actions that are connected with "financial items" -- but he did clarify this does not concern trade in the financial sector.

Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo declined to say what Mexico's view is on the tariff rate for autos that do not qualify for a stricter rules of origin under NAFTA. Outside sources familiar with the talks say that the U.S. is asking that the tariff rate be higher than 2.5 percent for non-conforming autos (see 1808130019). "I will not discuss details, because as you know, this is a work in progress, and we have to make sure we have the final outcome -- we are still making an effort with that," Guajardo said in response to a question about the tariff treatment of non-conforming autos from International Trade Today.

A "second-level" delegation from China is coming to the U.S. next week for talks, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Fox News Aug. 16, but what he said next suggested they would not be doing substantive negotiations to roll back the trade war. "Maybe they'll re-open those talks," he said. Kudlow quickly pivoted to talking about other trade negotiations. "We're making great headway in Europe, making headway in Mexico," he said, and added that he thinks what comes out of those talks is "going to be reassuring."

The U.S. blocked the formation of a panel that would determine whether the European Union has complied in the Airbus subsidies case that began 14 years ago. The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body will consider the request (see 1808070016) again on Aug. 27, and the U.S. cannot block the second request.

Turkey will hike tariffs on American cars, tobacco, liquor and more in response to President Donald Trump's decision to double tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum. Although Trump named both metals, only the 50 percent tariff on Turkish steel has gone into effect (see 1808120001). Turkey published a list of 22 tariff lines that will be subject to higher tariffs, from 4 percent on oil derived from coal to 140 percent on liquors. Cars will face a 120 percent duty; steel structures, tobacco, cosmetics and acetate cellulose film will face a 60 percent duty. The notice was dated Aug. 14, and according to an informal translation, if import declarations are made within 45 days of the publication, the previous duty will apply.

President Donald Trump said in an Aug. 15 tweet that tariffs are leading to great new trade deals. "Our Country was built on Tariffs," he said. "Other Countries should not be allowed to come in and [steal] the wealth of our great U.S.A. No longer!" So far, no new trade deal has been finalized during the Trump administration, though South Korea agreed to steel quotas and a longer period of high tariffs on imported trucks as part of a revised U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). KORUS has not been signed, however. Canada, Mexico and the U.S. have been discussing a new NAFTA for a year; Canada is insistent that the U.S. will not use the leverage of Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs in NAFTA negotiations (see 1804260010).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will hold a public hearing on Sept. 26 on whether Turkey should continue to receive Generalized System Preferences program benefits in light of Turkey's retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. (see 1808060021). Comments and requests to appear at the hearing are due by Sept. 12, and post-hearing briefs are due by Oct. 17, USTR said in a notice.

Fresh, frozen, dried, pickled and smoked fish, as well as shrimp, fish sticks, and fish meal, covered by dozens of Harmonized Tariff System codes, will be banned from import if any was caught in the Gulf of California unless importers sign a document that says no gillnets were used, CBP said in a CSMS message detailing the scope of the ban imposed on Aug. 14 (see 1808140013). Importers will need to sign a document that certifies that "to the best of my knowledge and belief, that the fish/fish products contained in this shipment are of species of fish or fish products, or from fisheries, not caught with gillnets deployed in the range of the vaquita, in the upper Gulf of California waters in Mexico." The ban is due to an injunction from the Court of International Trade. Nonprofits that brought the lawsuit hope such a ban will force Mexican fishermen to reform their practices, because gillnets have strangled and drowned vaquita porpoises, which are nearly extinct.

The ban on fish and shellfish harvested in the Upper Gulf of California in Mexico near an endangered species of porpoise is "effective immediately," the Court of International Trade ruled Aug. 14. The administration had argued that the regulatory process to create a certificate of admissibility, which involves multiple entities within the federal government, could not be done immediately (see 1808080005). "The Court discerns no merit in the Government’s suggestion that the import ban is not effective immediately," CIT said. "The Court reiterates that it is effective immediately."