International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 28 - Feb. 1 in case they were missed.
A domestic trade association filed petitions on Feb. 1 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping and countervailing duties on fabricated structural steel from Canada, Mexico and China. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on fabricated structural steel that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties. The petition, filed by the American Institute of Steel Construction, targets steel mill products of various shapes that have been fabricated (and typically custom-manufactured) into articles suitable for erection or assembly into a variety of structures.
The Mercatus Center, a free market-oriented research organization at George Mason University, continues to be critical of the Section 232 steel and aluminum exclusion process. In an update published Jan. 28, Christine McDaniel and Danielle Parks wrote that more than half of requests are still pending, and that 76 percent of requests have taken longer than the expected 90 days to get a decision. The Commerce Department originally projected it could decide on exclusions within 90 days. Overall, of steel requests that have received rulings, just over 75 percent have been approved, according to the Mercatus analysis. The analysis says that for companies requesting exclusions, Japan is the most frequent source of the steel, representing 18 percent of the requests filed before the partial federal government shutdown. Spain was No. 2, with just over 12 percent of requests, and China was third, with 12 percent of requests. For aluminum, Canada represents 13.6 percent of the requests, and India, 12.95 percent of the requests.
The House companion bill to Sen. Pat Toomey's attempt to roll back Section 232 tariffs (see 1901300022) was co-authored by two Democrats and two Republicans, and one of those Republicans, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said his near-term goal is to get 50 co-sponsors. So far, there are 17. One of the lead co-authors, Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., has been on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee for years, and Gallagher is hoping he can get some traction in the committee. A spokesman for the new Trade Subcommittee chairman did not respond to a question about the bill by press time.
A bill that could undo the steel and aluminum tariffs -- and would prevent any other Section 232 tariffs from taking effect without congressional approval -- needs more support to convince Senate leadership to allow a vote on it, its author acknowledged. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said repeatedly last year that efforts like this would be vetoed, and therefore are a waste of time. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said that having 11 co-sponsors on the day of introduction is strong, but he added: "We obviously need to have much broader support for this in order to persuade Senator McConnell to devote floor time to it."
SanMar Corp., which imports T-shirts, sweatshirts and polo shirts that are used for fun runs, corporate logos and the like, hasn't been hit with Section 301 tariffs yet, but its executives are anxiously watching trade policy. Melissa Nelson, general counsel for SanMar, said she used to be able to stay away from Washington, D.C., but with the surge of tariffs in the last year, that's no longer true. Even Section 232 tariffs, which you would not think would affect an apparel importer, are increasing costs for them. Nelson explained that SanMar is buying clothes racks for a Jacksonville, Florida, warehouse; she said they're worried about the cost.
The European Commission issued a progress report dated Jan. 30 on the ongoing trade talks with the U.S. to provide "a detailed overview on the state of play," the EC said in a news release. Among other things, the report notes that any new Section 232 measures on EU autos "would effectively block further progress on key elements." Such restrictions "on trade of automobile products would in any event lead to the suspension of negotiations in industrial tariffs as well as to rebalancing measures as in the area of steel and aluminium," it said. While most items on the report don't require specific negotiating objectives from the EC, the talks around industrial tariffs did require negotiating directives (see 1901180022).
Bipartisan bills were introduced in the House and Senate to give Congress a veto over potential Section 232 tariffs on autos and auto parts and the ability to rescind the tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum. The push in the Senate is led by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who also tried to move a similar bill last year, as well as Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 22-25 in case they were missed.
The perspectives from Congress, Canada and Mexico -- and a former acting U.S. trade representative -- diverge wildly on how much can be changed in the new NAFTA to garner votes for approval and how difficult it will be to get it passed in 2019. Miriam Sapiro, who was acting USTR and is now with SVC Public Affairs, used the term “lovely miracle” to describe how she’d feel if it passed this year. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, said it's clear that the metals tariffs on Canada and Mexico -- without quotas -- have to have a date certain to come off before Congress members are really about to start “to count the noses.”