USDA is increasing the FY 2024 tariff rate quota for raw cane sugar by 125,000 metric tons raw value, it said in a notice released March 6. The increase brings the total FY 2024 TRQ, originally set at the 1,117,195 MTRV minimum mandated by the World Trade Organization, to 1,242,195 MTRV, USDA said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will allocate the increase among supplying countries and customs areas. Raw cane sugar under this quota must be accompanied by a certificate for quota eligibility.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., recently introduced a bill that would require the president to hike tariffs on Chinese battery components, solar energy components and wind energy components by 25%. Those goods are currently subject to 25% Section 301 tariffs. The bill also would require that tariff rate to rise by 5 percentage points each year, for five years, until it reaches 50%.
Funding for the next seven months for the trade-related divisions of the Commerce Department will be down slightly, though fees may more than make up the difference at the International Trade Administration, if projections are accurate. These are considerations as Congress eyes finalizing an appropriations bill by the end of the workweek.
House Republican conservatives want to end Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China and have introduced a bill that urges the U.S. trade representative to negotiate free trade agreements with Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the U.K. so that importers can have alternatives to Chinese suppliers at a lower cost.
Josh Kagan, former assistant U.S. trade representative for labor affairs, has joined Kelley Drye as a special counsel in the international trade practice group, the firm announced. At USTR, Kagan worked on adopting and enforcing "internationally recognized labor rights," along with the "negotiation and implementation of labor provisions included in bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade agreements."
The top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said that he thinks a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program can get through Congress in the next three months.
Mexican Economy Secretary Raquel Buenrostro said in Mexico this week that if the U.S. reimposes 25% tariffs on Mexican steel exports over alleged surges, Mexico will retaliate. Mexico's steel exports are only 2.5% of the U.S. market, and U.S. steel exports are 14% of the Mexican market, so the U.S. has more to lose if Section 232 tariffs on Mexican steel return, she said.
Allowing large numbers of electric vehicles from Chinese companies assembled in Mexico would be an "extinction event," warned the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a nonprofit co-founded by large domestic manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union.
Sens. Ted Budd, R-N.C., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai urging them to take action to “immediately and meaningfully limit the volume of Mexican steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) being imported into the United States.”
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said both retroactivity and the length of renewal are being debated as lawmakers try to reach consensus on re-authorizing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program.