The Biden administration has resolved, at least in part, a potentially serious conflict over currency exchange rates with Vietnam. This could be a signal that other trade problems might also be resolved. Exchange rates matter to economists and businesses, and therefore to the rest of us, because a “weak” currency abroad will facilitate exports to countries […]
Lobbying groups for steel consumers blasted a federal appeals court’s decision to uphold former President Donald Trump’s abrupt doubling of Section 232 tariffs on Turkey to 50%. The tariffs have already led to high prices, long lead times and shortages that have hurt downstream manufacturers, and the decision regarding Turkey could set a dangerous precedent by […]
Former President Donald Trump acted within the law when he doubled Section 232 tariffs on Turkey from 25% to 50% in August 2018, a federal appeals court said. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upends a prior decision by a lower court – namely, by the U.S. Court of […]
Canada has launched an antidumping trade case against oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Austria. The investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) – initiated on Wednesday, July 7 – stems from a complaint filed by Tenaris SA’s Canadian subsidiaries. “The CBSA will investigate whether the imports are being dumped and will make a preliminary decision […]
Canada has launched an anti-dumping trade case against oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Mexico. The probe stems from a complaint filed by Regina, Saskatchewan-based Evraz Inc. NA Canada and Concord, Ontario-based Welded Tube of Canada, according to documents from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The CBSA, which initiated its investigation on June 30, […]
Readers asked me to discuss Section 232 and its possible future. Steel and aluminum tariffs have been around since 2018, not to mention other investigations on components of electric transformers made with electrical steel, autos and auto parts, and vanadium. I think that, under applicable law, certain of these cases have been resolved. I explain here […]
Last Tuesday, the Court of International Trade issued a major opinion in the massive litigation over China tariffs. As I’ve written before, the imposition of tariffs on more than $200 billion of imports per year from China has prompted a slew of lawsuits (more than 3,600 so far, including 6,500 separate plaintiffs), which could find […]
The Biden administration took office not only in the midst of a pandemic, but a global rethink of economic opportunity and outcomes. It’s one reason that global institutions, such as the WTO and the International Monetary Fund, are suffering from a lack of respect and influence, not only among general populations but opinion leaders and […]
I’ve noticed an increased focus on international issues reflecting moral and political subjects as opposed to economic ones, although these have been with us for a long time. Economists call this “virtue signaling.” The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) published an article on the subject a few years ago, defining “virtue signaling” as “the […]
The U.S. and the EU have agreed to “resolve tensions” stemming from Section 232 by year end–but that doesn’t mean the national security tariffs will be lifted anytime soon, the head of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) said. “I don’t see anything happening before the end of this year. This is a complicated […]
The White House has confirmed that the United States and the European Union are in discussions to resolve “existing differences” on Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from the EU before the end of the year. “We are determined to work together to resolve tensions arising from the U.S. application of tariffs on imports […]
I asked a good friend of mine after he was appointed to as the deputy head of a cabinet department what a typical day was like for him. “It’s drinking water from a fire hose. Things come at you so fast you can’t get out of the way,” he said. As an observer and occasional […]
The government is exploring ways to resolve serious trade disputes with the EU. At the same time, it is attempting to preclude having to make refunds of potentially unlawful duties collected since 2018. As I mentioned in last week’s column, President Biden’s first foreign trip since he took office featured four summit meetings: the G7 […]
A deadline has been set by the European Union and the U.S. to end Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, and any retaliatory measures, by Dec. 1, according to a draft communiqué obtained by Reuters. An announcement of the agreement is expected at the G7 Summit next week in Brussels. “We commit to work towards […]
A 100-day review, authorized by President Biden, was released this week to address vulnerabilities in critical U.S. supply chains. The report, “Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth,” was prepared by the departments of Commerce, Energy, Defense, and Health and Human Services. The 250-page report included recommendations not only for reducing […]
The U.S. Commerce Department has determined that coated flat-rolled steel made in Malaysia from Chinese or Taiwanese substrate circumvents U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties. As a result, coated product from Malaysia could be subject to duties of more than 200% if it is determined to be made from Chinese hot-rolled coil or cold-rolled coil, according […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted to continue antidumping orders on imports of cut-to-length carbon steel plate from China, Russia and Ukraine. Removing the orders, said the Commission in its sunset review, would “likely lead to continuation of recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.” The original investigation into CTL steel plate imports […]
A coalition of U.S. steel industry lobbying groups and the United Steelworkers (USW) union want the Biden administration to keep Trump-era Section 232 tariffs and quotas on imported steel in place. The groups say the tariffs – rolled out in March 2018 on national security grounds – are necessary for the survival of the domestic […]
The United States and the European Union have begun negotiations that could lead to the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the continent, according to market participants and a joint statement from the two sides. The official trigger of the talks: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo […]
Will the Section 232 tariffs be modified in some way in the near future? That is what U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai appeared to suggest during testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. Tai told the committee that the Biden administration seeks a better tool for addressing trade than the 1962 Trade Expansion Act. […]
Pressure is building on the Biden administration to provide relief for numerous manufacturing companies in the U.S. that say Section 232 tariffs are making supply chain problems worse. The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users, the National Foreign Trade Council and other steel and aluminum users collaborated on a May 6 letter to President […]
Former President Donald Trump overstepped his powers when he extended Section 232 tariffs to downstream products such as steel nails, a trade court ruled. The U.S. Court of International Trade made the decision on Monday, April 5, in favor of the plaintiff in the case, PrimeSource Building Products Inc., and against the defendant, the United […]
It’s time to roll back the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and the Section 301 tariffs on imports from China, which are inflicting significant harm on U.S. businesses and workers, argued the National Foreign Trade Council on Wednesday in an appeal to the Biden administration. The NFTC’s briefing paper, “Why Recent Tariff […]
U.S. steel producers, facing intensifying criticism from steel consumers over record-high steel prices, were quick to point to a new report this week from the Economic Policy Institute, which concludes that the Trump-era Section 232 tariffs have been an effective deterrent to unfair imports and should be continued by the Biden administration. The Steel Manufacturers […]
Section 232 tariffs should remain in place because they backstop a stable U.S. steel industry, the benefits of which will outlast a temporary price spike, a panel of industry experts and trade union members said. “These typically last six to nine months. So we can expect that these price bubbles–and that’s really what they are–are […]
The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU) is appealing to the Department of Commerce (DOC) to terminate Section 232 tariffs and quotas on imported steel and aluminum, in a followup to similar demands directed at the Biden administration on Feb. 10. In a March 15 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, CAMMU–which claims to represent […]
The U.S Department of Commerce has decided to continue antidumping duties on cut-to-length plate imported from China, Russia and Ukraine as part of the “sunset review” process. China will remain subject to dumping margins of up to 128.59%, Russia to dumping margins of as much as 185% and Ukraine to margins of up to 237.91%, […]
Biden administration Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo described Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and aluminum as “effective” on Thursday. “The data show that those tariffs have been effective,” Secretary Raimondo said in an interview with MSNBC. Raimondo’s comments are important because trade policies such as Section 232, which Trump rolled out in March 2018, fall […]
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) nominee Katherine Tai expressed support for Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, characterizing the duties as a “legitimate tool in the trade toolbox.” The prospective top U.S. trade negotiator also signaled that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – the replacement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) – would […]
The U.S. Commerce Department has preliminarily increased anti-dumping margins on several major Japanese hot-rolled coil suppliers. Commerce calculated preliminary anti-dumping margins of 11.70% for Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker, and 6.8% for Tokyo Steel Manufacturing. Nippon Steel and Tokyo Steel were the mandatory respondents in the case. But a litany of Japanese steel suppliers–including JFE […]