The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says that Nicaragua's leaders are repressing labor rights and human rights, and dismantling the rule of law, and that these authoritarian actions are directly and indirectly harming U.S. commercial interests.
President Donald Trump told reporters that unless China stops fentanyl shipments, resumes buying U.S. soybeans and stops playing "the rare earth game with us," he won't lower tariffs.
China is looking to shorten its export license application review times, and potentially issue exemptions, as it approaches the Dec. 1 effective date of its new rules to restrict overseas exports that contain certain levels of Chinese-origin material (see 2510090021), a Commerce Ministry spokesperson said Oct. 16 during a press conference.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in a joint press conference with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, said the administration has already drafted some documents to hike tariffs on Chinese goods, and is drafting other documents that might impose more export controls for goods sold to Chinese firms.
China is imposing new port fees on U.S. ships and placing sanctions on five U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Marine Corporation in response to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s Section 301 investigation of China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors (see 2506100023).
President Donald Trump, on his way to Israel, softened his message on tariffs on Chinese goods. When asked if imposing those tariffs was still the plan, he said, "Right now it is. Let's see what happens. November 1st is an eternity."
Shippers will face no new charges after Section 301 fees on Chinese-built and -owned vessels take effect Oct. 14, DHL said in its monthly ocean freight update. Most carriers have moved their Chinese-built vessels onto other routes, so that only about 15% of capacity is Chinese-owned and 5% is Chinese-built on trans-Pacific eastbound routes, and even lower percentages are affected on trans-Atlantic westbound routes.
President Donald Trump reacted angrily to China's plan to expand export restrictions, including when rare earths are in products made abroad (see 2510090021. In a social media post that seemed to trigger a 2.7% drop in the S&P 500, he wrote, "Dependent on what China says about the hostile 'order' that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two."
A week after CBP instructed vessel operators how to pay fees under a Section 301 shipping action, and four days before those fees are due, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative changed the fee structure.