trade policy

The recent announcement by the White House that it intends to unilaterally impose 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum imports from all countries except Canada and Mexico has created significant uncertainty among foreign exporters.

It is of great import that Canada and Mexico are excluded from the imposition of section 232 duties for the time being. The European Union, Australia and South Korea have expressed a desire for similar exclusions to be applied to them. In fact, the EU and Australia are almost assured of an exemption based upon press reports. But where does that leave other important allies such as Turkey, India, Brazil and a host of other steel-exporting nations?

President Trump announced on Thursday, March 1, that he will impose tariffs on imports of certain steel and aluminum products. We anticipate the President will formally sign the trade measures announced today next week and that they will include an additional tariff of 25% on imports of steel products and 10% on imports of aluminum products covered under the proclamation.

The Department of Commerce released its reports recommending remedies with respect to the Section 232 investigations of steel and aluminum today, February 16. The steel report was submitted to the White House on January 11, 2018 and started a statutory 90-day clock for the President to make a decision on a course of action. The aluminum report was submitted on January 19, 2018 and similarly started the statutory 90 days for the decision.

Husch Blackwell’s Jeffrey Neeley authored an article, “Solar Panel Tariff Creates New Uncertainty” that appeared in Law360 this week. The article discusses in depth the proclamation signed by President Trump last week. From the article:

[T]he relief announced provides that the first 2.5 gigawatts of imported cells are excluded from the additional tariffs. The use of an

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On January 22, 2018, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that the Trump Administration is granting relief for the domestic solar panels and modules industry under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974. This confirmed the fears of many consumers that there substantial additional duties would be imposed on those products.…

On Tuesday, January 23, 2018, President Trump signed the Presidential Proclamation to Facilitate Adjustment to Competition from Imports of Large Residential Washers, thereby announcing the President’s decision regarding the investigation of large residential washers (LRWs) under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the LRW Safeguard Investigation). A copy of the Proclamation can be found here.

The government shutdown began on Saturday at 12:01am. Here is a list of several agencies involved in trade and transportation issues that will be affected.

International Trade Commission

The International Trade Commission will only have three to seven individuals working during the shutdown in order to protect life and property. The six Commissioners are presidential appointees and therefore are exempt from the furlough.

The U.S. Department of Commerce self-initiated trade cases for the first time since 1991 on Tuesday, November 28, on Chinese common alloy aluminum sheet. While Commerce normally opens antidumping and countervailing duty investigations only after requests from the domestic industry, the agency is authorized to self-initiate cases. Commerce last exercised this power for a countervailing duty case in 1991 and for an antidumping case in 1985.

Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement on Tuesday, “President Trump made it clear from day one that unfair trade practices will not be tolerated under this administration, and today, we take one more step in fulfilling that promise. We are self-initiating the first trade case in over a quarter century, showing once again that we stand in constant vigilance in support of free, fair and reciprocal trade.”