As the dust settles on the Trump administration's expansion of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, industry and consumer advocacy groups responded with either glowing support or dour predictions of economic ruin.
The EU and Canada announced retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. this week, targeting billions of dollars' worth of American exports in response to what they said were unjustified global 25% steel and aluminum duties imposed by the Trump administration. Other nations also criticized the U.S. tariffs as they mulled countermeasures of their own.
Senators from the swing state of Georgia, a major manufacturing hub for metal-intensive auto, aerospace and solar industries, say that business leaders are telling them that the see-sawing tariff announcements from the White House are unnerving and causing them to put the brakes on planning expansions.
During a visit by Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin, President Donald Trump brushed away Martin's comments about Irish companies buying Boeing planes and hiring in the U.S. "There's a massive deficit. I don't mean by a little bit," he said, referring to the trade in goods between Ireland and the U.S. "We want to sort of even that out as nicely as we can. We don't want to do anything to hurt Ireland, but we want fairness," he said.
Japan will likely seek negotiation and exceptions to U.S. tariffs rather than respond with retaliatory measures, one expert predicted at an event hosted by Japan House LA on March 10.
The Commerce Department seeks comments by April 1 in connection with its recently launched Section 232 investigation on the national security effects of “wood products: timber, lumber, and their derivative products,” it said in a notice to be published March 13. The agency began the investigation on the tariffs on March 10, after President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for the inquiry (see 2503030039).
Two Section 232 investigations launched March 10 by the Commerce Department -- one on copper, the other on lumber -- serve as harbingers of potentially more trade activity to come, attorneys with the law firm Pillsbury said during a webinar on "DC Disrupted: Upcoming Tariffs & Trade Actions," said after notices seeking comments on the investigations had been posted.
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Section 232 tariffs on a new list of steel and aluminum “derivatives” outside of Chapters 73 and 76 are now set to take effect, after the Commerce Department released a notice that “adequate systems are in place to fully, efficiently, and expediently process and collect tariff revenue for covered articles for both steel and aluminum.”
Republicans voted in the House to say that there will be no more calendar days in the rest of this session of Congress, through the end of 2025, in a procedural gambit directly blocking the ability of critics of President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico to challenge that policy.