On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House said that, beginning March 10, there will be a 200% tariff on Russian aluminum exports, including derivative products, and, beginning on April 10, aluminum articles from other countries that used any aluminum from Russia will also be tariffed at 200%, unless those third countries also impose 200% tariffs on imported Russian aluminum.
Mara Lee
Mara Lee, Senior Editor, is a reporter for International Trade Today and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. She joined the Warren Communications News staff in early 2018, after covering health policy, Midwestern Congressional delegations, and the Connecticut economy, insurance and manufacturing sectors for the Hartford Courant, the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper (established 1674). Before arriving in Washington D.C. to cover Congress in 2005, she worked in Ohio, where she witnessed fervent presidential campaigning every four years.
A Democratic and a Republican senator agreed at an international conference that a U.S. carbon border adjustment tax will be useful, both for making sure domestic industry is competitive and to convince China to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.
The two most important people in global trade, according to a conference moderator -- the U.S. trade representative and her EU counterpart -- presented a united front on the need for a new approach at the World Trade Organization, a new flavor of globalization, and their ambitions to work together on coordinating a standard for green trade and ways to confront distortive trade practices.
The Senate Finance Committee's chairman and ranking member said it's time to turn their attention to customs modernization, with both saying any bill will need to both enhance enforcement and make legitimate trade move faster and with more certainty.
The muted response of the agriculture secretary to Mexico's concessions on genetically modified corn was not enough, according to Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Smith sent a letter Feb. 15 to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai arguing that it is time to initiate a formal dispute over the non-tariff-barriers.
Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago, who leads 2,300 employees at the agency, said an increasing part of their work is helping U.S. companies build resilience in the face of China's "heavily subsidized indigenous industries."
The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee said renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill didn't happen last year because Democrats pushed "social policy and environmental policy in MTB and GSP."
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources Kelly Milton said that the discussions to create a common understanding between the U.S. and the EU on steel and aluminum not only have to define what green steel is or green aluminum is -- they also have to agree on how to block metals from their markets that were produced from non-market principles.
Wiley attorney Tim Brightbill, in a recent webinar on what to expect in trade in 2023, said he expects a bill to make significant changes to antidumping and countervailing duty law to be introduced in Congress soon. The bill, colloquially known as Level the Playing Field Act 2.0, was introduced in the previous Congress by Ohio's two senators. The administration expressed support for the proposal, but it faced skepticism among Republicans in Congress (see 2204220036 and 2104160037).
The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council has done some excellent work in technology, according to EU and U.S. trade officials, but it needs to tackle the "trade" part of its mission more directly. A discussion on Making a More Meaningful TTC also included executives from two technology industry associations, who were somewhat less laudatory about its results so far.