The international consensus on expanding international trade has shattered. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote a piece last week in the Times outlining some of the factors that led to the demise of this consensus. In the 1990s, with the advent of NAFTA and the WTO, the prevalent view among policymakers was that trade […]
I look for connections in current events, and often they are apparent for all the world to see. One recent example—in the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August, Congress reinstated and revised the tax credit for “clean vehicles,” including electric, hybrid plug-in, and alternative fuel vehicles (such as hydrogen fuel cells). These cars are in […]
The Jones Act is in the news again. The Jones Act requires that all trade within the United States (including Puerto Rico) be carried on US-registered ships built in the United States and manned by crews composed of at least 90% American citizens or permanent residents. Last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas waived […]
Trump-era Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods continue to be challenged in court even today, more than four years after they took effect. It’s remarkable that the tariffs have survived two presidential administrations that otherwise have little in common. President Biden and former President Trump have sharp differences when it comes to tone and to […]
Antidumping and countervailing duty actions (also known as trade cases) have been a mainstay for protecting American industries from foreign competition. Many lawyers and economic consultants (I am among them) have made their living litigating these cases at Commerce Department, the US International Trade Commission, and the courts. More than 660 products are currently subject […]
The White House announced earlier this month, to no one’s surprise, that hundreds of companies and trade associations had expressed interest in continuing Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods. These expressions related only to the tariffs on $34 billion and $16 billion in trade value, the so-called “List 1” and “List 2” tariffs. The Office […]
The post-Cold War history of trade has certainly been turbulent. Readers may remember – if they are old enough – the euphoric days after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union fell apart. A key marker of the philosophical development explaining these cataclysmic events was an essay (1989) and book (1992) by Francis Fukuyama, […]
The House of Representatives on Friday approved the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on a party-line vote. This legislation, with only Democratic support, passed the Senate 51-50 last weekend. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden, who will sign it into law. This is by any measure a major piece of legislation. On the surface, […]
The House of Representatives on Friday approved the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on a party-line vote. This legislation, with only Democratic support, passed the Senate 51-50 last weekend. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden, who will sign it into law. This is by any measure a major piece of legislation. On the surface, […]
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) recently conducted hearings on the future of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as on the Section 301 tariffs on imports from China. Congress mandated the ITC investigation in response to calls for the tariffs to be reduced or eliminated to fight inflation. Unlike the […]
Two major pieces of legislation were in the news this week. On the merits, both are scaled back substantially from earlier versions. But they are still major initiatives. The first has gone to President Biden for his signature, which is certain. That is the Chips for America Act, legislation that will provide substantial subsidies to […]
Eyes glaze over when trade laws are discussed. Despite this, I think it useful to delve a bit into details on occasion. A couple of recent developments prompt me to do so this week. First, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted unanimously last week that material injury was not done to the domestic industry […]
President Biden visited the Middle East last week. He touched down at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland early Sunday morning. Every presidential trip is and must be evaluated by what else is going on. This one was originally billed as routine: to attend a summit meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a group […]
The buzz about the war in Ukraine has shifted. For the first three months of the conflict, Ukraine was hailed for a valiant struggle against a strong Russian foe. This valor is part of a larger struggle—the preservation of peace against the threat of violent conquest of weak nations by stronger ones. The stakes could […]
Tariffs on China have been controversial from the beginning. Passions run high, and it’s sometimes hard to find a middle ground on policy matters concerning China. The tariffs at issue are those imposed on Chinese goods under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. Over the next few months, the Biden administration […]
The World Trade Organization just concluded its 12th Ministerial Conference since the launch of the ill-fated Doha Development Agenda in 2001. The conference stayed in session past its scheduled end, and it reached agreements that surprised many WTO observers. A lot of credit goes to WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria, who kept the ministers […]
Antidumping and countervailing duty (“trade remedy”) cases provide a rare glimpse into tariffs on imported goods that entered the US before they were subject to these burdensome duties. In the opinion of some, retroactively applied tariffs are always unfair to importers and their downstream US customers. Others disagree, believing that they deter imports competing with […]
The Biden administration, picking up where the “America First” Trump administration left off, extols the virtues of increased production here at home. There are many advantages to this approach, the president says. Increased production in the US will diminish reliance on China in critical materials for electric vehicles (rare earth metals and lithium, for example). […]
Tariffs on China put in place under the Trump administration are under review now because Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 requires it after four years. I thought it was surprising that President Biden continued the “China tariffs” after criticizing them during the 2020 presidential campaign. But it is not too surprising. The tariffs […]
International trade has become increasingly important to the US economy and national security over the last seven decades. But in recent years, we have lost our confidence in it. Donald Trump was the first post-World War II President to try to reduce the volume of international trade, principally by imposing tariff barriers on steel, aluminum, […]
We’ve gotten so used to thinking about issues as Democrat vs. Republican, us versus them, that it’s gotten hard for us to make progress even on issues that we generally agree on – like lowering carbon emissions. Renewable energy, and trade policy around renewables, are examples of an all-too-common problem facing the country: Interest groups […]
For the first four months of this year, the US and global economies have endured one shock after another. It’s hard to know what to expect whether you are running a business, regulating an industry, or feeding a family. This past week, the government announced that the US economy shrank in the first quarter at […]
This past week the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum with details of the Buy America rules that apply to infrastructure projects governed by the infrastructure bill passed last year (the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” or “IIJA”). This week, I detail some of the changes and their impact on the number […]
President Biden on Friday signed two pieces of trade legislation that sailed through Congress: the “Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act” (HR 6968), which prohibits imports of oil, gas and other energy products from Russia, and “Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act” (HR 7108), which imposes higher “Column 2” tariffs on imports […]
The Commerce Department released a “strategic plan” to boost American competitiveness on March 28. It is long on buzzwords and short on specifics. The plan identifies some opportunities to boost American competitiveness. But it focuses too much on government subsidies and protection of entrenched domestic industries and not enough on playing to America’s most important […]
Too much went on last week to limit this week’s column to a single issue. The Ukraine war touches everything these days, including almost all recent developments on the trade front. It was a week that, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, was “not entirely uneventful.” First, the NATO summit meeting took on issues that have divided Europe […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz On Feb. 10, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Commerce Department published a request for public comments concerning steel and aluminum exclusions under the Section 232 tariffs and quotas. Comments are due in about a week (March 28). The request for public comments did not originate from the […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz (Editor’s note: The following views are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Steel Market Update.) On Friday, President Biden announced that the United States would end “Most Favored Nation” status, termed “PNTR” in the United States, for Russia, a member of the World Trade […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz (Editor’s note: The following views are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Steel Market Update.) A bit over a week into the new world order (i.e., the Russian invasion of Ukraine) and things are proceeding, but slowly. We have all been following the conflict—but […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz Albert Einstein is reputed to have said that time is the “fourth dimension” because you cannot tell where you are except by knowing “when” you are. The onset of war in Europe is “when” we are right now. As I write, there is a battle for control of Kyiv. Because […]