Mexico is setting new permit requirements for some steel exports to monitor for transshipment amid a surge in its steel shipments to the U.S., it said in a notice in the Aug. 28 Diario Oficial. The monitoring system will cover exports of standard pipe, mechanical tubing and semi-finished products. It will take effect five days after publication of the notice, and remain in effect until the end of June 2021, the notice said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative agreed to keep in place its exemption for Mexico from Section 232 tariffs on steel products, USTR said in a press release.
The Aug. 28 meeting of the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body in Geneva will include the European Union's arguments that with Airbus launch subsidies resolved, the billions of dollars in tariffs on French wine, Airbus planes, Scottish whisky and other products should be lifted. The U.S. will also weigh in.
As Canadians consider which of 68 aluminum-containing products to put on a tariff retaliation list, U.S. industrial producers and buyers of aluminum reacted with dismay to the news that a large segment of Canadian aluminum imports will face a 10% tariff starting Aug. 16.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told the United Steelworkers trade union that a core part of his trade strategy “will be to enlist our international allies to collectively tackle unfair practices by China in order to ensure American steelworkers have good, plentiful union jobs. Trump has humiliated and infuriated our allies.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said during a conference call with reporters July 17 he doesn't know if the U.S. trade representative and Canada have resolved their differences over Canadian aluminum imports. The USTR has said that he was consulting with Canada about a surge of imports. Some news outlets reported three weeks ago that he would re-impose 10% tariffs on aluminum, but so far that has not happened (see 2006250048).
The U.S. authorized new sanctions against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 and other Russian pipelines (see 1912190075), clearing the way for designations of people and entities associated with Russian gas projects, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Those involved with the project may now be subject to sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, Pompeo said during a July 15 news conference.
In testimony in Canada's House of Commons, former government chief negotiator Steve Verheul told politicians that there is no surge in Canadian aluminum exports to the U.S., so a return to 10% tariffs on Canadian exports is not warranted. He said the product mix shifted, but the total exports are not up.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, celebrated the switchover from NAFTA to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement -- coming July 1 -- but also talked about a trade irritant with Canada and one with Mexico in a conference call with reporters June 30.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 22-26 in case you missed them.
Reimposing Section 232 tariffs on Canadian aluminum “would be a major mistake,” National Foreign Trade Council President Rufus Yerxa said June 24. “It would completely undermine the spirit of our newly-negotiated” U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and “reignite trade tensions with our biggest trading partner. It will also hurt the most dynamic U.S. manufacturers in sectors like autos, food products and construction, all in a vain effort to prop up inefficient domestic aluminum producers by branding Canada a national security threat.” He said the administration should recognize that levying taxes on aluminum from Canada “would undermine our credibility as a reliable trading partner, not just with Canada, but with other potential free trade partners like the U.K. and Japan.”