A free-trade senator shrugged off President-elect Donald Trump's promise to put 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican goods, Canadian politicians scurried to convince Trump it can satisfy his demands, and Mexico's president alternately scolded and offered cooperation to the president-elect.
President Joe Biden nominated Jim Coughlan, the Export-Import Bank's general counsel, and Haile Craig, a Republican nominee, for the International Trade Commission on Nov 21.
President-elect Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he will impose a 25% tariff on all Mexican and Canadian goods through an executive order on Jan. 20, and the tariff will stay "until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this longtime problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and, until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"
President-elect Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary nominee, hedge fund CEO Scott Bessent, has talked about tariffs as a way to "escalate to de-escalate," with the goal of "getting rid of all the tariffs."
As the leaders of some Canadian provinces have said their country should cut its own deal with the incoming Trump administration because Mexico hasn't aligned with the U.S. to keep Chinese electric vehicles out of its market, the new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters that it's nothing to worry about.
Six Republican senators, including President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of state, Marco Rubio of Florida, reintroduced a bill that would prohibit the Biden administration from requiring that goods made in the West Bank be labeled as such, rather than labeled "Made in Israel." The senators, led by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are concerned that labeling items as from the West Bank would help the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which opposes the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Golan Heights and Gaza. The BDS movement argues that those who support Palestinians' rights shouldn't buy goods from firms that either manufacture in those territories, such as Ahava, or allegedly support the Israeli army, like Sabra, oppress Arab citizens of Israel, like SodaStream, or provide technology for surveillance of Palestinians, like HP.
Although some trade attorneys have been worrying that a Trump administration will discourage a Republican Congress from bringing back Generalized System of Preferences program tariff breaks for developing countries, members of the House Ways and Means Committee did not endorse that point of view.
Todd Owen, who served as executive assistant commissioner for field operations at CBP for about five years before retiring in 2020, argued that hundreds of millions of dollars for technology upgrades, and staffing expansions, would be more helpful to catch contraband in the small package environment than removing Chinese goods or other restrictions.
President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick to be Commerce secretary (see 2411190036) drew mixed reaction on Capitol Hill this week.
Ten Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee introduced a bill that would forbid the president from using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose tariffs or quotas on imports.