Hogan Lovells lawyers, speaking to an audience from the Massachusetts Export Center, said that conservative Supreme Court justices' desire to curtail executive decision-making through the "major questions doctrine" could put a stop to tariffs on countries around the world levied via the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.
Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who served in that role in President Donald Trump's first term, told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations that he thinks "there’s a reasonable chance the CIT would enjoin" tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. Trump used IEEPA to levy 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over fentanyl and migration, as well as 20% tariffs on China over fentanyl, and used it to levy 10% tariffs on countries other than those three, and an additional 125% tariffs on Chinese goods.
A domestic producer recently filed a petition with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping and countervailing duties on silicon metal from Angola, Australia, Laos, Norway, and Thailand. Commerce now will decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CVD orders and the assessment of AD and CVD on importers. Mississippi Silicon and Ferroglobe requested the investigation.
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told former U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman that she had a meeting with USTR Jamieson Greer "yesterday that was a little bit comforting," but that the current 10% U.S. tariff on most countries, plus 25% tariffs on cars, steel and aluminum and some products from Canada and Mexico, and 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, if it lasts, will result in global merchandise trade falling by 0.2%. Before the actions, the WTO forecast a 2.7% growth in goods trade this year.
The International Trade Commission seeks comments by May 2 on a Section 337 complaint alleging that imports of integrated circuits and electronic devices infringe patents held by Onesta IP, it said in a notice set for April 24 publication. According to the complaint, Onesta, whose domestic licensee is Advanced Micro Devices, is seeking a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders against NVIDIA, Qualcomm, OnePlus Technology and Nothing Technology Limited to bar from entry "certain integrated circuits, electronic devices containing the same, and components thereof," that violate the complainant's patents. The complainant said that the patents "generally relate to integrated circuits, processors, and systems comprising a central processing unit and/or a graphics processing unit supporting various advanced computing, graphics processing, power management, memory operation, and chip design features."
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The International Trade Commission is beginning a Section 337 investigation on electrical cables (ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1446) after receiving allegations filed by Credo Semiconductor that Amphenol, Molex and TE Connectivity are importing products that infringe its patents, the agency said in a April 14 fact sheet.
President Donald Trump on April 15 ordered a Section 232 investigation that could result in the imposition of tariffs on processed critical minerals and their derivatives.
The Commerce Department is launching Section 232 investigations on imports of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals as a possible precursor to levying duties on these products, according to Federal Register notices released April 14.
The U.S. is excluding certain smartphones, computers, chips and other items from President Donald Trump's executive order on reciprocal tariffs, CBP said in a CSMS message released late April 11. The products are being added to the list of exempt Harmonized Tariff Schedule headings and subheadings under Trump's April 2 executive order and won't be subject to the additional duties if they're entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 5.