Think tank scholars and lawyers emphasized that Section 232 tariffs on Mexican and Canadian autos, steel, aluminum and lumber are engendering rancor and suspicion, and the uncertainty of future tariffs levels on Mexican and Canadian imports is a silent tax causing businesses to halt investments and expansions.

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.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., in a brief hallway interview at the Capitol, told International Trade Today that he "absolutely" believes that a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act can get a vote in the House soon.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the U.S. will retroactively eliminate tariffs on airplane parts, lower auto and auto parts tariffs to 15% and "unstack" the reciprocal rate from most-favored nation duties so that 15% is an all-in number for South Korea, same as for Japan and the EU.

Since the United Kingdom's National Health Service has agreed to pay more for new medicines, the Trump administration is pledging "to exempt U.K.-origin pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical ingredients, and medical technology from Section 232 tariffs and will refrain from targeting U.K. pharmaceutical pricing practices in any future Section 301 investigation for the duration of President [Donald] Trump’s term."

Manufacturing trade groups and companies mostly argued in comments to the U.S. Trade Representative that USMCA rules of origin for their sectors shouldn't change as part of the pact's review, and if they do, it should be only after extensive consultation with industry, and with adequate transition times.

Former trade negotiators said the removal of reciprocal tariffs on agricultural goods not grown at scale in the U.S. is a harbinger of things to come, as the administration starts to recognize that tariffs are politically unpopular.

The Court of International Trade on Nov. 26 granted the government's motion for rehearing in a customs dispute on the classification of certain radial, web and chordal segments imported by Honeywell and used in airplane brakes, changing the classification of the parts to "fabrics" under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 6307. Judge Mark Barnett reversed his previous holding that the goods are "parts of an aircraft" under heading 8803, subjecting the items at issue to a 7% duty under subheading 6307.90.98.

CBP's regulations regarding the notice provided to importers subject to Enforce and Protect Act investigations and when CBP must initiate those investigations violated an importer's due process rights, the Court of International Trade held on Nov. 26.

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.