The U.S. will impose another additional 25% tariff on India beginning Aug. 27 to address India’s imports of Russian oil, said President Donald Trump in an executive order issued Aug. 6.
Thompson Hine trade lawyer Dan Ujczo, who has expertise in North American trade and, particularly, automotive trade in the USMCA region, said the way the carve-outs to 25% Section 232 tariffs have been shaking out has surprised him -- and, he believes, has surprised countries that are automaking powerhouses.
An Aug. 5 survey from the National Foreign Trade Council reveals concern among importers that current U.S. tariff policies are causing supply chain disruptions, inflating costs, and delaying planned projects.
The EU on Aug. 5 published a document to officially suspend the retaliatory tariffs it was set to impose on the U.S. on Aug. 7 (see 2507250007) if the two sides hadn’t come to a trade agreement. The U.S. and the EU announced a trade deal last last month (see 2507280027 and 2507280032), and suspending its retaliatory duties will help “ensure effective implementation of the political agreement,” the European Commission said in a document posted to the Official Journal of the EU. “The Commission should keep the suspension under review in light of further developments in the trade relations with the United States, and may take further actions.”
European Commission trade spokesperson Olof Gill, in a briefing in Brussels, said that the U.S. intention to allow some European steel to be imported without facing a 50% tariff will be in the forthcoming joint statement on the trade agreement. He said the work to set up the quota would follow.
President Donald Trump denied having said he would impose Russia-related secondary tariffs of 100%, but said a decision on what tariffs would be imposed for countries buying Russian energy would be decided on Aug. 6.
CBP has provided updated guidance on reciprocal tariffs that includes additional information on what goods are exempt, according to an Aug. 4 cargo systems message.
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Former trade negotiators and government trade advisers from both the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Canada described the negotiating process of the last three months as one wherein even Cabinet members couldn't promise that a deal was done.
President Donald Trump, during a call-in interview on CNBC, said that he is going to raise India's 25% reciprocal tariff level "very substantially over the next 24 hours because they’re buying Russian oil, they’re fueling the war machine."