The first few weeks of Undersecretary Jeffrey Kessler’s tenure at the Bureau of Industry and Security have been defined by industry uncertainty and skepticism toward career government and business officials, industry members and BIS staff said.
President Donald Trump was set to join talks at the White House with Japan April 16 “to negotiate Tariffs, the cost of military support, and ‘TRADE FAIRNESS,’” he said in a Truth Social post earlier in the day. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were also set to attend, he said. “Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!”
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., introduced a bill April 14 that would increase sanctions and export controls on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
World Trade Organization members elected Argentina's Gustavo Nerio Lunazzi the new chair of the Council for Trade in Goods, the WTO announced.
China is raising tariff levels to 125% for U.S. origin goods in response to President Donald Trump's April 9 decision to raise tariffs to the same rate for Chinese goods (see 2504090043).
CHANDLER, Ariz. -- The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America could help organize a class-action lawsuit against ocean carriers if enough of its members and other non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCC) say they're unfairly being refused service contracts, industry officials said at the NCBFAA’s annual meeting.
The EU announced on April 10 that it has placed its planned counter-tariffs on hold for 90 days following President Donald Trump's April 9 decision to withdraw his reciprocal tariffs on most countries (see 2504090069).
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressed concern over U.S. tariff policy but said it wants to pursue diplomacy and not "impose any retaliatory measures."
Senior trade officials from China and the EU spoke about U.S. tariffs and other trade issues during an April 10 call, and they also agreed to “start consultations” on boosting trade between the two sides “as soon as possible,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation. Those talks will include “in-depth issues related to market access, create a more favorable business environment for enterprises” and touch on electric vehicle trade (see 2411080024), China said. “Both sides support restarting the China-EU trade remedy dialogue mechanism, discussing trade diversion issues, and properly handling trade frictions.”
EU member states this week voted in favor of the European Commission's proposal to impose counter-tariffs in response to recent U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.