Trade Group Letter Asks Commerce to Refund Duties After Tariff Reversal
The Border Trade Alliance asked the Commerce Department to refund duties paid by importers during the brief imposition of tariffs on Mexico and Canada last week.
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In a letter addressed to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, BTA President Britton Mullen and BTA Chairman Pete Sepulveda urged Commerce to "initiate a process to refund these duties to the affected importers."
They said that importers were subject to duties "during their brief enforcement period," though the duties were "swiftly rescinded." Last week, the Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico March 4 before allowing an exception on USMCA-compliant goods on March 7 (see 2503060041).
"The unexpected imposition of tariffs on USMCA-compliant goods not only contradicts the spirit of this agreement [USMCA] and President [Donald] Trump’s goal" of strengthening the U.S. hand in North American trade, they said, it also "places undue financial strain on U.S. businesses that rely on predictable trade policies."