Tariff News

This week, President Trump indicated that he was considering imposing additional import tariffs on goods from specific sectors. The trade press reported that President Trump has identified the auto, pharmaceuticals and semiconductor sector for import tariffs of as high as 25% and previewed that such tariffs may go into effect as early as April 2, 2025.

The rationale for the tariffs appears to be to prompt investment and reshore manufacturing back to the United States in the identified industries. At this time, it is unclear what legal authorities the administration will rely on to impose these proposed additional tariffs. It is also unclear whether the tariffs would apply to free trading partners such as Canada and Mexico.

It is likely that any new tariffs would be imposed on top of existing tariffs such as the China-specific Section 301 and IEEPA tariffs as well as Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum, which were recently expanded by the Trump administration.

Relatedly, on February 20, 2025, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a federal register notice requesting comments identifying any unfair trade practices or non-reciprocal trade arrangements maintained by its trading partners. USTR requests comments on a country-by-country basis and seeks information on any unfair trade practice including policies, measures, or barriers that undermine or harm U.S. production or exports. Information is also requested on failures by a country to take action to address a non-market policy or practice in a way which harms the United States. The notice requests commenters to quantify the harm to American workers, manufacturers, farmers and businesses from the practice or trade issue of concern. Notably, USTR calls out countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Vietnam. These countries cover 88% of total goods trade with the United States. While the United States has a trade deficit with many of these countries, there are others (such as Australia and United Kingdom) that maintain surpluses in goods trade with the United States.

USTR indicates that the information will assist the agency in recommending appropriate actions to remedy such practices and proposing remedies in pursuit of reciprocal trade relations. Comments are due March 11, 2025.

Export News

This week, the U.S. began efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. As part of those talks, several U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, indicated that the U.S.’s sanctions against Russia, in place since February 2022, would likely be a point of discussion and could be expanded or eased depending on how discussions progress. No modifications have been made to date. We previously covered the Department of Justice’s disbanding of the Russia sanctions enforcement task force here.

Congressional Nominations

On February 18, the Senate confirmed Howard Lutnick, as Commerce Secretary by a vote of 51 to 45. Mr. Lutnick is the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services firm and played an integral role on Mr. Trump’s transition team. He is a strong supporter of President Trump’s broad use of tariffs as a means to address trade and non-trade concerns.