Canada asked for a Chapter 20 review under NAFTA of safeguard tariffs on solar panel imports.The tariffs on solar panels apply after a country has exported 2.5 gigawatts worth of product (see 1801230052), it said in a news release. Canada noted the U.S. International Trade Commission recommendation that Canada be excluded from any safeguard measures after finding that imports from Canada are not a source of injury to U.S. industry. Despite that, Canada is still subject to the tariffs. "The tariffs violate NAFTA rules and were imposed despite the fact that the United States International Trade Commission found that imports of solar panels from Canada were not harming U.S. industry," Chrystia Freeland, Canada's foreign minister, said July 23.
The American Institute for International Steel and two companies asked the Court of International Trade on July 19 to immediately stop the enforcement of Section 232 tariffs, AIIS said in a news release. A summary judgment is necessary to prevent further monetary harm to steel importers, as well as "the port authorities, customs brokers, insurance companies, and logistics companies that are members of AIIS and that derive significant portions of their revenue from their handling of imported steel," AIIS said in its filing.
The implementation of new tariffs on uranium appears improbable despite the initiation of an investigation of possible trade restrictions under Section 232 (see 1807180029), said Kristoffer Inton, a stock research analyst with Morningstar. "We think it’s unlikely a tariff will be enacted, as we see little merit in the arguments laid out by Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy," he said in a research report on Canadian uranium company Cameco. "First, the key reason production from Kazakhstan has grown so much over the last decade is because it simply is home to low-cost uranium deposits," Inton said. "Roughly 12% of global reserves are found in Kazakhstan, second only to Australia." Also, "national security concerns seem unfounded given that the global uranium market is in oversupply and given that the two companies filing the petition claim that they can scale-up production quickly, if needed," he said. "Additionally, uranium could come from underfeeding, re-enrichment, or from Japan’s built-up inventory until mines expand production. This would seem to minimize concerns about a potential uranium shortage in the U.S."
Goods under the $800 de minimis level are not subject to Section 232 tariffs, a CBP spokesperson said July 18. CBP previously said that tariffs don't apply to de minimis shipments covered under the Section 301 tariffs (see 1807050033). The agency recently ruled against the use of foreign-trade zones to get around limits on de minimis entries (see 1807180022).
Lawmakers, farmers and agriculture trade groups voiced worries about the effect of tariffs on rural communities during a July 18 House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing. "Most of our agriculture producers today rely heavily on export markets, and unfortunately, many of these farmers and producers are now facing the loss of not just one of their top international export markets, but their top 2, 3 and 4 export markets -- all at once," Chairman Dave Reichert, R-Wash., said in an opening statement. "They are facing severe and devastating uncertainty -- and that goes right to their profitability." In response to recent sections 232 and 301 tariffs, "U.S. agriculture is now facing retaliatory tariffs from the EU, China, Mexico, Canada, Turkey, Russia and India," he said. "Now, I know that the administration did not intend for U.S. agriculture to be hurt, but the damage is entirely predictable."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The auto industry is launching a media blitz this week with TV and print ads, and a "drive-in" press event of American workers from German, Japanese and other foreign-owned auto plants. The TV ad, paid for by the Association of Global Automakers, uses the kind of imagery often used in political ads -- a barn in a field of grain -- and a deep-voiced narrator noting that foreign automakers have plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Ohio. Every one of those states voted for Trump in 2016.
The Commerce Department on July 18 announced a Section 232 investigation into possible import restrictions on uranium. Requested by Ur-Energy USA and Energy Fuels Resources in January (see 1801190016), the investigation will determine whether “the present quantity and circumstances of uranium ore and product imports into the United States threaten to impair national security,” Commerce said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called the White House's approach to tariffs "misguided and reckless," and said if the Trump administration "continues forward" with tariffs as a way to protect U.S. manufacturing, "I will work to advance trade legislation to curtail presidential trade authority." He said during a speech on the Senate floor July 17 that he is sympathetic to the effort (see 1807120023) from Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., to rescind steel and aluminum tariffs and prevent tariffs on autos and auto parts, and he is discussing legislative options with his colleagues.
The retaliatory tariffs from the European Union, China, Canada, Mexico and Turkey in response to U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs are being challenged at the World Trade Organization by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. "The U.S. steel and aluminum duties imposed by President Trump earlier this year are justified under international agreements the United States and its trading partners have approved," the USTR said in a July 16 news release. "However, retaliatory duties on U.S. exports imposed by China, the EU, Canada, Mexico and Turkey are completely without justification under international rules.