China, which previously asked for consultations with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization over steel and aluminum tariffs and two previous rounds of Section 301 tariffs (see 1808270020), asked on Sept.18 for consultations on tariffs that will be levied next week on $200 billion in Chinese goods. As with the previous cases, China says the measures violate WTO rules by imposing higher tariffs on China than on other countries, by exceeding U.S.-agreed bound rates, and because the U.S. did not go through the dispute resolution system at the WTO before acting.
The European Union, emphasizing follow-through from the joint statement in July (see 1807250031) that the EU and U.S. would be working together on trade, announced that imports of U.S. soybeans from July through mid-September more than doubled compared with the same period a year ago. EU Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said: "I welcome the latest trade figures which show that we are delivering on the commitment made by Presidents [Jean-Claude] Juncker and [Donald] Trump to increase trade, particularly in relation to soya beans. This reflects both our longstanding trade relationship and the potential to achieve so much more by working together to build on that relationship."
Court of International Trade Judge Timothy Stanceau approved on Sept. 19 a request that a three-judge panel hear a constitutional challenge to the Section 232 tariffs. The "action is assigned to a three-judge panel consisting of Judge Claire R. Kelly, Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves, and Judge Gary S. Katzmann," the single-sentence order said. The American Institute for International Steel and two companies filed a lawsuit June 27 at CIT over the constitutionality of Section 232 (see 1806270036). The lawsuit sought a three-judge panel because that would allow an appeal to go straight to the Supreme Court.
The president of Canada’s largest union said that while dairy and dispute settlement have not yet been resolved, the biggest issue preventing an agreement on NAFTA is the specter of Section 232 tariffs on autos. "If anything is to hold this deal up, it’s going to be the fact that Donald Trump has imposed 232 tariffs,” Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, said Sept. 20. “Why would Canada sign a trade agreement with the United States dealing with all the important issues, and then have Donald Trump impose a 25 percent tariff on automobiles? Why would we sign an agreement that leaves us exposed?”
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., noted a "growing frustration with many in Congress regarding Canada's negotiating tactics," in a Sept. 18 statement about the "continued delay to join Mexico and the United States in a new North American trade deal." Canada seems so far unwilling to make some necessary concessions, he said. "While we would all like to see Canada remain part of this three-country coalition, there is not an unlimited amount of time for it to be part of this new agreement," he said.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 1814 on Sept. 18, containing 1,329 Automated Broker Interface records and 292 harmonized tariff records, it said in a CSMS message. This update includes modifications that reflect changes to African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits for Rwanda (see 1807310051) and updates to Section 232 tariffs and quotas exclusions on steel and aluminum (see 1808300004).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 10-14 in case they were missed.
Most of the former U.S. trade representatives on a panel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies agreed that a multilateral approach with China would have been better than tariffs, that the World Trade Organization could have been used to good effect, and that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would have made a difference. But Susan Schwab, who was a USTR during the George W. Bush administration, disagreed with much of that conventional wisdom. "From 2005 onward, we were seeing bad behavior and backtracking on the part of China, and we tried to get China's attention on a whole lot of issues that the current administration is talking about ... and we weren't able to get their attention. And we weren't able to get Europe and Japan to help us even though quietly Europe and Japan were talking about this.
President Donald Trump's authority to impose Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum is backed by constitutional provisions giving the president independent oversight of national security and foreign affairs, the Justice Department said in a Sept. 14 filing with the Court of International Trade. The filing was in response to a legal challenge from the American Institute for International Steel and two companies (see 1807200023) seeking a summary judgment to stop the tariffs. The Supreme Court also has previously ruled on the issue, DOJ said.
CBP will begin hourly processing for absolute quota between 11:45 a.m. and 7:45 p.m. ET every business day starting on Sept. 17, said CBP in a CSMS message. Absolute quota shipments will also be made available for cargo release during those times, it said. CBP began administering absolute quotas earlier this year as a result of the Section 232 tariff on steel and aluminum. The agency recently noted it was challenged by the limit for processing quotas only once a day and said hourly processing was coming (see 1809100017).