Politicians whose constituents work at electrical steel mills hailed the news that electrical steel cores and laminations used to make transformers, as well as transformers and transformer regulators, are going to be subject to a Section 232 investigation (see 2005040059). Three of the four senators from Pennsylvania and Ohio, and a Pennsylvania congressman, lauded the administration for considering further protection for AK Steel, which was acquired by Cleveland-Cliffs in March. Once imported electrical steel was subject to 25% tariffs, AK Steel said imports of downstream products made from this kind of steel increased.

Increased CBP scrutiny on valuation, changes in tariff classification, and country of origin for products targeted in the U.S.-China trade war means companies need to be extra careful when doing tariff engineering or shifts in assembly locations, Sandler Travis lawyer Paula Connelly said, speaking on an April 28 webinar offered by the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade. Most of her presentation focused on establishing country of origin.

Three U.S. manufacturers seek the imposition of new antidumping duties on prestressed concrete steel wire strand from Argentina, Egypt, Colombia, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine, and new countervailing duties on PC strand from Turkey, they said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission April 15. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.

Eighteen Republicans and seven Democrats in the House of Representatives are asking for Section 232 tariffs to apply to lamination and cores of electric steel, saying an increase in imports of those kinds from Mexico and Canada are a sign of “blatant circumvention” of the 25% tariffs on electrical steel, as they say neither Canada nor Mexico produces electrical steel. The April 15 letter, sent to President Donald Trump, was led by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., Rep. Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio. AK Steel, which makes electrical steel in Pennsylvania and finishes it in Ohio, has threatened to close those plants because of the competition (see 2003090038). Balderson and Kelly wrote the president on the same issue in early March. Three of the four senators representing those two states asked for these items to be included in March 2018 (see 1803090038).

Trade in products that are in severe shortage during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic accounted for 1.7% of world trade in 2019, according to a new report from the World Trade Organization. Although many of the medical products that are traded face no tariffs in many countries -- medicines rarely face a tariff, and they account for more than half the traded value -- there are goods that still face high tariffs. The WTO said the average applied tariff for hand soap is 17% and the average tariff on protective gear such as gowns, gloves and masks is 11.5%.

U.S. importers sourced 5.81 million Chinese smartphones in February, according to Census Bureau data accessed April 5 through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. It was the lowest monthly volume from China since customs began tracking smartphone imports in 2007, and vivid evidence of the COVID-19 pandemic's upending of the Chinese supply chain after the world’s first outbreak in Hubei province in January.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 30 - April 5:

U.S. importers sourced 5.81 million Chinese smartphones in February, said Census Bureau data accessed Sunday through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. It was the lowest monthly volume from China since customs began tracking smartphone imports in 2007, and vivid evidence of COVID-19's upending of the Chinese supply chain after the world’s first outbreak in Hubei province in January.

Trade in products that are in severe shortage during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic accounted for 1.7% of world trade in 2019, according to a new report from the World Trade Organization. Although many of the medical products that are traded face no tariffs in many countries -- medicines rarely face a tariff, and they account for more than half the traded value -- there are goods that still face high tariffs. The WTO said the average applied tariff for hand soap is 17% and the average tariff on protective gear such as gowns, gloves and masks is 11.5%.

The Canadian Parliament is moving the successor to NAFTA along, so that a March ratification vote is still looking likely, news from Canada says. While the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will be reviewed by the agriculture, natural resources and industry/science/technology committees, not just the trade committee, the other committees only have until Feb. 25 for that review, a report from ipolitics said.