Japanese lawmakers this week urged the Trump administration to continue engaging with allies on economic security issues and to not close off America from Japanese investment, saying Japanese companies will help grow American exports and reduce the U.S. trade deficit.
Recent U.S. trade actions, such as the IEEPA tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives, and the temporarily paused reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries worldwide, could cause global container volumes to slump by 1% in 2025, according to U.K-based maritime shipping advisory firm Drewry.
Amid swirling reports that China is considering exemptions from tariffs on some critical U.S. goods, an industry expert said that these moves should not be read as a broader shift in the trade war between the two countries.
Foreign countries' retaliatory tariffs against the Trump administration’s new global tariffs could cut U.S. exports of goods covered by the World Trade Organization’s Information Technology Agreement by at least $56 billion a year, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said April 23.
President Donald Trump criticized business officials who have said his tariffs actions are damaging, bragged about countries and executives asking for breaks, and made a list of non-tariff cheating he wants countries to end, all on social media over the weekend.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is planning a phased-in approach to assessing fees on foreign-built vessels calling at U.S. ports, according to an April 17 announcement unveiling the results of its year-long Section 301 investigation.
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!”
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).
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).