International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
President Donald Trump has threatened to place additional tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods over Mexican water use and Canadian fertilizer trade practices.
Former trade officials said the Trump administration's tariff policy in Asia is being tested by China’s concern over recently completed U.S. tariff arrangements with Malaysia and Cambodia, which could complicate the administration’s push to wrap up deals with Vietnam and Indonesia.
Auto industry representatives asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to let the USMCA autos rule of origin continue -- or to simplify it -- while the United Autoworkers called for "complete rewrite" of the pact next year, including wage floors in all three countries in auto and parts plants and "explicit job security provisions for American workers."
Former South Korean trade negotiators complained that the U.S. is acting in bad faith in its trade negotiations and doubted the durability of the recent U.S.-Korea trade deal, though former Trump administration officials lauded the deal as a win-win for both countries.
Plaintiffs in the massive Section 301 litigation "have every intention" to appeal their case challenging the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on China to the Supreme Court, Matt Nicely, lead counsel for the companies, told the Court of International Trade during a Nov. 4 status conference.
Trade lawyers are split over the necessity of filing lawsuits now to secure potential International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariff refunds should the Supreme Court invalidate them, according to interviews with lawyers.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and other major voices of business said Section 232 tariffs applied to Canadian and Mexican goods that meet USMCA eligibility are a clear violation of the pact, and need to end. The business groups, which opened the second day of an Interagency hearing on what the U.S. should prioritize in next year's USMCA review, also emphasized how imports from and exports to Mexico and Canada are essential for domestic manufacturing.
The Court of International Trade erred in ruling that importer Blue Sky The Color of Imagination's planning calendars are diaries under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 4820.10.2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held on Dec. 4. Judges Alan Lourie, William Bryson and Raymond Chen said the trade court violated the principle of stare decisis by skirting the CAFC's prior interpretation of the term "diary."
Reductions of reciprocal tariffs on South Korea, as well as of Section 232 tariffs on South Korean lumber, will take retroactive effect Nov. 14 under a recently agreed trade deal, according to a notice released Dec. 3 by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department.