The Bureau of Industry and Security will likely approve nearly all newly submitted requests for inclusions of new tariff subheadings under 50% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives, according to a Nov. 30 blog post by trade lawyer Paul Fudacz.
Thirty House Democrats joined the sponsor who introduced a bill last month to refund reciprocal tariffs paid by small businesses. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., publicized the bill Dec. 1. There is a Senate companion bill.
Three House members introduced a bill called the No Gratuitous Overcharging Ubiquitous Global Exports (No GOUGE) Act, which would punish large companies that set prices higher than the costs directly generated by the tariff (though it also allows additional costs for higher wages). "This applies to final goods, goods assembled in the United States, and to components, and to both imposed and planned tariffs. A baseline price determination period of the average price of a good in the preceding 180 days is established for determining an unreasonably high price," a summary of the bill said.
The lead sponsor in the House on a Russia sanctions and secondary sanctions bill said that negotiations are still ongoing between the two chambers on the final language of the bill.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 24-30:
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.
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.
The Council of the EU, which is made up of government ministers from each EU country, voted last week to eliminate customs duties on industrial products and to grant tariff rate quotas for some seafood and agricultural products. It also voted to extend duty-free treatment for U.S. lobster exports. That tariff treatment had expired in July.
The ruling Democratic Party of South Korea submitted a bill on Nov. 26 to establish a state-run investment fund for managing investments in the U.S., paving the way for a reduction in U.S. tariffs on Korean automobiles and their parts, the Korea Times reported.
Following the Supreme Court's oral argument in the lead cases on whether the president can use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs, various trade lawyers speculated that the high court now appears poised to strike down the tariffs.