A report on the national security issues related to imported automobiles and auto parts probably won't be ready for release in August, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. The Commerce Department started a Section 232 investigation in May on the impact of imported cars on the domestic auto industry and national security (see 1805240002). Ross, who previously said he expected a report in August, noted the progress with NAFTA and the European Commission. Commerce has 270 days to issue the report and Ross didn't give any other information on when to expect the report.
President Donald Trump’s recent decision to double Section 232 duties on steel from Turkey further demonstrates the vague and arbitrary nature of the tariffs and their unconstitutional conflict with the principle of separation of powers, the American Institute for Imported Steel and steel importers said in a brief submitted Aug. 16 as part of their ongoing court challenge of the tariffs (see 1806270036). No reason was given for the action -- imports of steel from Turkey are already falling quickly -- and no legal recourse exists for steel importers to challenge the doubling of tariffs, the brief said. “That is because section 232 lacks an ‘intelligible principle’ guiding the President on what he may do, and does not require him to justify the differing treatment of Turkey from that of other large exporters of steel to the United States or even to base the additional 25 percent tariff increase on any facts, findings, or administrative record of any kind,” the brief said. “Singling out imports from Turkey for double tariffs is the latest and perhaps the clearest example that, like the Emperor with no clothes, section 232 is a naked grant of unchecked power to the President that cannot stand if our constitutional system of separation of powers is to be maintained,” it said.
CBP is seeing an increase in bond insufficiency related to new sections 301 and 232 tariffs and expects that trend to continue, the agency told Colleen Clarke, vice president-business development at Roanoke Insurance Group. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of American said in an Aug. 20 email to members that CBP told Clarke that the agency "is urging brokers and sureties to be proactive in determining bond sufficiency." Roanoke Trade mentioned the issue during a webinar last month (see 1807260011).
Australia's exemption from Section 232 tariffs (see 1805310007) involves a deal in which CBP constantly monitors imports from the country, according to a report from Inside U.S. Trade on Aug. 20. John Leonard, executive director-trade policy and programs, briefly mentioned the arrangement during a meeting with reporters on Aug. 14. Australia was give "a special exemption from both tariffs and quota, but we're still monitoring imports from Australia," he said.
ATLANTA -- The Trump administration is not operating off a set benchmark for when to lift Section 232 tariffs on iron and steel products, and any decision to end the duties is at the discretion of the president himself, said Earl Comstock, director of the Commerce Department’s Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, at CBP's 2018 Trade Symposium on Aug. 14. Though Commerce in its Section 232 report set a threshold of 80 percent steel industry capacity utilization to judge the sector’s health, President Donald Trump in imposing the tariffs was “very careful to say that we’re not looking at a specific thing,” Comstock said. “We’re not going to be measuring and say when it hits 80 percent, boom, everything disappears,” he said. The capacity utilization rate could be lower or higher. “It’s really up to the president to make that determination,” considering the overall health of the industry and its ability to stand on its own, as well as whether arrangements have been reached with other countries to address issues such as overcapacity, Comstock said.
A group of 80 trade associations has asked for exclusions to Section 301 Chinese tariffs to be liberally granted, including that they be granted automatically to all importers who have a "binding 'signed purchase order' to procure products from a supplier in China" if that order was signed before July 6.
President Donald Trump said in an Aug. 15 tweet that tariffs are leading to great new trade deals. "Our Country was built on Tariffs," he said. "Other Countries should not be allowed to come in and [steal] the wealth of our great U.S.A. No longer!" So far, no new trade deal has been finalized during the Trump administration, though South Korea agreed to steel quotas and a longer period of high tariffs on imported trucks as part of a revised U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). KORUS has not been signed, however. Canada, Mexico and the U.S. have been discussing a new NAFTA for a year; Canada is insistent that the U.S. will not use the leverage of Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs in NAFTA negotiations (see 1804260010).
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1812 on Aug. 13, containing 27 Automated Broker Interface records and six harmonized tariff records, it said in a CSMS message. The update includes changes related to the Section 232 tariffs on steel from Turkey that take effect on Aug. 13 (see 1808120001), CBP said.
ATLANTA -- CBP has assessed about $2.7 billion in duties under the recent major trade remedies started during the Trump administration, said John Leonard, executive director-trade policy and programs, during an Aug. 14 meeting with reporters at the CBP 2018 Trade Symposium. That includes $477 million in duties from the Section 301 tariffs on goods from China so far, he said. The first tranche of Section 301 tariffs took effect on July 6 (see 1807050033) and more are scheduled to take effect on Aug. 23 (see 1808070046). CBP also has assessed just over $2 billion under the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum and $263 million under the Section 201 trade remedies on washing machines and solar cells (see 1801230052). Leonard also noted that the Section 201 tariff-rate quota for washer parts was recently reached. According to the most recent quota status report, the washer parts TRQ was filled as of July 23.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 6-10 in case they were missed.