Five House Democrats, including Rep. Gregory Meeks, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a resolution to terminate the emergency that allowed President Donald Trump to hike tariffs on some Brazilian goods from 10% plus most-favored nation tariffs to 50% plus MFN.
Although CBP has provided guidance on how to file entries for steel and aluminum derivatives under the Section 232 tariffs, some trade community members are still unclear about how to determine the value of the steel or aluminum content in more complex situations, according to trade attorney George Tuttle, speaking on an Aug. 27 webinar.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Aug. 29 said the president doesn't have unlimited tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Seven of the court's 11 total justices presiding over the case affirmed the Court of International Trade's conclusion that President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs and tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico meant to combat the flow of fentanyl exceed the president's authority under IEEPA.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Aug. 29 said President Donald Trump exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by imposing the reciprocal tariffs and tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico to combat the flow of fentanyl. Declining to address whether IEEPA categorically provides for tariffs, though spilling much ink on the topic, a majority of the court held that IEEPA doesn't confer unbounded tariff authority (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. #s 25-1812, -1813).
Fariha Kabir, a former international trade litigation attorney at CBP, has left the agency to join Faegre Drinker as an associate, she announced on LinkedIn. Kabir had worked at CBP since 2021, helping with the litigation of customs matters before the Court of International Trade and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, including cases on tariff classification and value, the exclusion or detention of import entries, and CBP regulations.
The top trade negotiator from Japan canceled his trip to the U.S. this week, which was meant to nail down a reduction in auto tariff rates for Japan, Bloomberg reported. While the overall reciprocal tariff rate is 15% for Japan, the country has not received the 15% rate on autos and auto parts, as agreed to in July, it said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is extending by another three months certain current exclusions to its Section 301 investigation related to U.S. trade with China.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP has released two Customs Bulletins. The Aug. 20 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 34) contains a modification of two ruling letters and revocation of treatment relating to the tariff classification of dimmers.
While many attorneys believe that one of the cases on the legality of President Donald Trump's tariffs is on a collision course with the Supreme Court, questions remain about exactly when the high court will review the case and in what form. One possibility would see the lead appeal, V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, which currently sits before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, head to the Supreme Court's emergency, or "shadow," docket.