The U.S. Trade Representative is proposing an additional 10 percent tariff on 6,031 8-digit tariff lines -- about $200 billion worth of imports. Those who wish to testify for or against the inclusion of an item on the list must file by July 27, and written comments are due by August 17. Hearings will be held August 20-23. Senior government officials said a decision on tariffs will be made sometime after August 30.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on July 6 blasted a World Trade Organization ruling against U.S. countervailing duties on supercalendered paper from Canada (see 1807060024), saying Canada should have dropped the case because the Commerce Department will revoke the CV duty order. Lighthizer said Commerce terminated the CV duty order supercalendered paper on July 5, the same day as the WTO decision, at the request of the domestic manufacturer that originally requested the duties. No announcement from Commerce has yet been published.
The Philippine government said that the late May meeting between Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish and senior Philippine economic ministers and senators was laying the groundwork for the "scope, timing and process" that could lead to a free trade agreement between the two countries. A statement from the Philippine government released July 9 said the May talks "centered on America’s interest in initiating 'informal preparatory meetings'" that could be the beginning of FTA negotiations.
The countervailing duties levied by the U.S. on two Canadian companies that make supercalendered paper relied on assumptions that were not justified, a World Trade Organization panel ruled July 5.
Nearly two weeks after the last batch of Section 232 tariff exclusion determinations were posted, the Bureau of Industry and Security posted eight more denials, all for Borusan Mannesmann Pipe in Texas, a Turkish-owned oil country tubular goods production facility.
At 12:01 a.m. July 6, the additional 25 percent tariffs against Chinese imports across 818 8-digit tariff lines went into effect. Within a minute, China hit back, imposing a 25 percent tariff on 545 tariff lines. The Chinese government said the U.S. has started "the largest trade war in economic history." China said "the duties are typical bullying behavior, which will have a serious impact on the global industrial and value chain and will hinder the pace of global economic recovery, [and] trigger global market turmoil," according to an unofficial translation.
More than 2,000 people and organizations submitted comments on the idea of implementing higher tariffs on imported cars and car parts, with the overwhelming majority rejecting the idea. The National Association of Manufacturers noted that U.S. automotive exports increased eight-old from 1980 to 2017, and that imported parts are vital to automotive manufacturing's price competitiveness.
Despite hope that senators who were not ready to support the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill could be won over on June 28 (see 1806280065), the bill did not come up for a vote before the Senate adjourned for the July 4 holiday. Senate Finance Committee staffers did not offer any estimate of when the MTB might be considered.
Whichever way the World Trade Organization decides on the validity of U.S. tariffs and quotas on metals and other countries' retaliatory tariffs, it hurts the rules-based system, said Jennifer Hillman, a Georgetown University law professor and former member of the WTO appellate body. Hillman spoke on a panel at a Global Business Dialogue trade policy association event. If the WTO says that a claim that an action was taken to protect national security -- when there's no war between the parties, and the item is not clearly war materiel, such as ammunition -- then almost any protectionist measure could be justified, she believes.
A Louisiana Republican introduced a bill that would require 20 percent of imported seafood to be inspected by the Food and Drug Administration, and require that the first 15 shipments from a new exporter each be inspected. If a shipment fails any measure of inspection, the exporter would be subject to 15 consecutive inspections again. Currently, about 2 percent of imported seafood is inspected, according to Food and Water Watch.