The International Trade Commission released its estimate of the economic effect of revisions to NAFTA, one of the steps necessary for a vote in Congress under Trade Promotion Authority. Because there are few tariff changes in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, economists focused on the advances in digital trade and job growth due to tighter auto rules of origin. Across the economy, the ITC estimated that ratifying USMCA would lead to an additional 176,000 jobs, a 0.12 percent increase.

The National Association of Manufacturers filed a lawsuit with the Court of International Trade over new regulations that prevent drawback for goods subject to excise taxes. Among other arguments in the April 17 filing, the association said the drawback changes related to excise taxes, which were implemented as part of a general overhaul of drawback under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, go against the expressed aim of lawmakers. The court should vacate the rule's excise tax drawback provisions, said NAM.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a third list of product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. The exclusions are "reflected in 21 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 348 separate exclusion requests," according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website April 15. The product exclusions apply retroactively to July 6, 2018, the date the first set of tariffs took effect, and will remain in effect until one year after USTR publishes the notice in the Federal Register.

The Court of International Trade on March 25 denied a bid to declare Section 232 tariffs unconstitutional in a lawsuit brought by the American Institute of International Steel and other steel importers. A 1976 Supreme Court decision had found Section 232 to be a permissible delegation by Congress of its tariffs-setting powers to the president, and while the three judge CIT panel expressed some concerns, they were “beyond this court’s power to address, given the Supreme Court’s decision,” CIT said. Judge Gary Katzmann penned a separate “dubitante” – a step below a dissent -- noting that, while he agreed that the trade court could not deviate from the Supreme Court’s ruling, he had “grave doubts” about its real world implications.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued another list of product exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on goods from China, granting full or partial exemptions for 87 separate exclusion requests, according to a pre-publication copy of a notice posted to the agency’s website March 20. The product exclusions apply retroactively to July 6, 2018, the date the first set of tariffs took effect, and will remain in effect until one year after USTR publishes the notice in the Federal Register.

India, the biggest recipient of the Generalized System of Preferences, will be terminated from the program after the mandatory 60-day waiting period, because it is not providing "equitable and reasonable access to its markets in numerous sectors," the U.S. Trade Representative announced Monday evening. Turkey, which is the fifth-largest beneficiary of the program, is being terminated because its economy has developed sufficiently that it should no longer benefit from preferential market access, USTR said.

President Donald Trump will again postpone an increase to Section 301 tariffs on China that had been set to take effect March 1, he said Feb. 24 in a pair of tweets. The delay comes as a result of “substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues,” he said.

CBP released a final rule for drawback regulations under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act. Most of the regulations will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register on Dec. 18, though the new rules for drawback of excise taxes will take effect on Feb. 19, it said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will officially suspend the planned increase in Section 301 tariffs on $200 billion worth goods from China that had been set for Jan. 1, the agency said in a notice. That notice said the third tranche of the tariffs will remain at 10 percent for the time being and won't increase to 25 percent until March 2. The delay follows a recent deal reached by the U.S. and China to begin negotiations toward a resolution of the ongoing trade dispute.

A 90-day pause in implementing increased Section 301 tariffs will run from Dec. 1, the White House said as it corrected the record the evening of Dec. 3. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow had erroneously said that the 90-day delay in increasing tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports would start Jan. 1. That was the day that tariffs were scheduled to rise from an additional 10 percent on the base rate to 25 percent. Jennifer Hillman, a Georgetown Law professor and former general counsel at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, tweeted that the Federal Register will have to be updated to reflect the new deadline, which should fall around March 1.