Officials advising Donald Trump on his upcoming administration have been considering tariffs that would gradually increase by 2% to 5% a month, according to a Bloomberg News article based on unnamed sources. The proposal could boost negotiating leverage and avoid a spike in prices, the planners believe. The article said the proposal is in its early phases and hasn't been presented to the president-elect.
President-elect Donald Trump announced plans Jan. 14 to establish an "External Revenue Service" that would collect monies from tariffs, duties and all revenue coming from foreign sources, in a Truth Social post.
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.
The National Chamber of the Textile Industry of Mexico and the U.S.-based National Council of Textile Organizations sent a Jan. 13 joint letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressing their gratitude to the Mexican government's recent tariff changes for apparel goods.
CBP should put in place an "informed compliance" policy for holds on previously filed in-bond shipments that prohibit their subsequent export, given the lack of automated notifications of those holds to the filer, according to comments that the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America submitted to CBP last week.
Type 86 entries would be replaced by an "enhanced entry process" if a proposed rule becomes final, but clearing goods off the manifest via a "basic" entry process would still be possible for de minimis shipments, CBP said in a notice of proposed rulemaking scheduled for publication Jan. 14.
CBP proposes to replace the Type 86 process for low-value packages with an "enhanced entry process," requiring a few more data elements than the 10 currently required. Like the Type 86 test, and providing the additional data in exchange for quicker release will continue to be voluntary.
U.S. imports got a boost in December and are likely to be elevated in January compared with year-ago levels, according to the National Retail Federation, as retailers brought in spring merchandise early to hedge against the potential of a labor strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast terminals -- a strike threat that was averted this week (see 2501090003).
The Coalition for a Prosperous America, an advocacy group aligned with President-elect Donald Trump's trade and manufacturing policies, is calling on his administration to reinstate Section 232 tariffs on Mexican steel. "If Mexico continues to breach its commitments, CPA urges the Trump administration to reconsider Mexico’s participation in USMCA altogether," the group wrote in a release issued Jan. 10.
Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and Neal Dunn, R-Fla., introduced a bill to change the scope of packages eligible for de minimis. No bill text was available Jan. 10 from Suozzi's office, but former Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said before he retired that Suozzi would be taking over his push to curtail de minimis.