During almost a year of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian steel, U.S. purchases of Canadian steel declined by nearly 20 percent, according to Cicero Machado, a steel analyst with Wood Mackenzie. In the early weeks after the tariffs were lifted, there was not a jump in Canadian steel imports, according to Amy Magnus, whose customs brokerage in Vermont works with many importers bringing steel from Canada. Orders cannot be shipped quickly, she said.
The Section 232 bill that Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is working on that would give Congress a veto on national security tariffs is still moving, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said at a Washington International Trade Association program June 13. Lankford and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., shared the stage as they talked about trade. Coons, when asked about auto imports as a threat to national security, said, "it's ridiculous."
Although the list of members on a working group to improve the new NAFTA isn't yet final, the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus say they expect to be dissatisfied with the mix of views on it. "I know he did want to know who to negotiate with," said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., referring to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. And Pocan said it makes sense that the task force would predominantly be drawn from the Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for trade deals. But Pocan told International Trade Today, "We also want to make sure we're heard." Pocan said he thought Rep Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., could be on both task forces. "I do expect she would be on every committee if she wants to, because we all love Rosa, and this has been a passion she's had for a long time."
China wants to make a deal very badly, President Donald Trump told reporters on the White House lawn June 11. " It's me, right now that's holding up the deal," he said.
Vice President Mike Pence said the meeting with Mexico's Foreign Minister June 5 was positive, but emphasized that the Mexican efforts to stem migration from Central America -- and its proposals for future action -- "are not nearly enough." Pence, who spoke to reporters before leaving on a trip to honor the D-Day anniversary, said, "We made clear to them that President [Donald] Trump is going to continue to stand firm until we bring this crisis of illegal immigration at our southern border to an end."
Five hours before Vice President Mike Pence was to meet June 5 with Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, a former Mexican ambassador to the U.S. predicted that the 5 percent tariffs on all Mexican imports would be levied, and that they'd stay in place "at least a couple of days, or a couple of weeks."
With ACE not ready, customs bond insufficiency issues, and importers unable to take on financial responsibility for tariffs on Mexican imports, the customs brokers who work at the California-Mexico border asked CBP and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to delay implementation of 5 percent tariffs past June 10. The Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Associations sent a letter June 5 saying that its members are alarmed "that it will be impossible to comply, as the mechanisms for compliance are not available between now and June 10th."
Six weeks ago, the senior vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council believed the Trump administration's pressure was successfully empowering Chinese officials who believe in reforming China's capitalist/state-controlled hybrid economy. "I was pretty optimistic that we were, as a consequence, going to be able to say that the administration had achieved things that probably no previous administration had genuinely been able to achieve," Erin Ennis told an audience member at the Washington International Trade Association China trade panel May 29.
Many U.S. importers "tend to just assume things are on the up and up" with their vendors, said Pete Mento, vice president for global trade and managed services at Crane Worldwide Logistics. Mento, who conducted a webinar on free trade deals May 24, said that's a mistake. Mento said often "people are claiming free trade agreements simply because it was flown to the U.S." from a free-trade partner country. "You gotta be able to prove your stuff qualifies. Because if you can’t prove it, the government’s going to come down on you like the hammer of the gods," he said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who faced many critical questions from House Democrats on the China trade war, told them that consumer goods were left until last for a reason, and that a decision on levying tariffs on the remaining imports from China -- including toys, apparel, cellphones and computers -- has not yet been made. “There won’t be any decision probably for another 30 to 45 days," Mnuchin testified at the Financial Services Committee May 22. He said that he had recently spoken to the chief financial officer at Walmart about the increase in tariffs on the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs and the possibility of tariffs on nearly all remaining imports.