Five Republican House members told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in an Oct. 23 letter that the importation of electrical transformers and transformer cores is not a national security issue, and that the increase in imports of the goods from Canada and Mexico is a logical consequence of putting 25% tariffs on the steel used to make these goods. The letter, led by Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., said that adding Section 232 tariffs could put 15,000 transformer industry jobs at risk. Riggleman was defeated in his primary. Reps. Benjamin Cline and Morgan Griffith, both of Virginia; Dan Bishop of North Carolina; and Bruce Westerman of Arkansas also signed.
Talks toward a comprehensive trade agreement with the United Kingdom would likely continue under a Joe Biden administration, though when a deal could be reached is unclear, K&L Gates partner Stacy Ettinger said during a webinar on how trade policy would change if there is an administration change after the election, or progress if there is a second Trump administration. Ettinger, a staffer for Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., before joining the private sector, was joined by former White House trade staffer Clete Willems, now at Akin Gump, during a webinar Oct. 20 hosted by American University's law school.
Duties continue to be collected under the Section 232 tariffs on aluminum from Canada, despite a September Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announcement that the tariffs would end. Lauren Wilk, Aluminum Association vice president for policy and international trade, said Oct. 22 that a presidential proclamation or executive order rolling back the tariffs never came.
A steel importer will receive refunds of Section 232 tariffs under a settlement that resolves its legal challenge of denied exclusion requests. Approved Oct. 15 by the Court of International Trade, the settlement directs CBP to reliquidate some entries covered by exclusions Borusan Mannesman Pipe U.S. had alleged were improperly denied by the Commerce Department. The government did not admit liability under the settlement.
The World Trade Organization announced that the European Union is entitled to hike tariffs on nearly $4 billion in U.S. goods due to the trade distorting effects of tax breaks for Boeing. The tariffs -- the levels of which have not been announced -- are not to go into effect immediately, but could affect civil aircraft, helicopters, tractors, chemicals, hazelnuts, wines, liquor, cotton and other products, according to a preliminary list of targets released last year.
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a temporary final rule Oct. 8 detailing procedures for importers to apply for exemptions from recently tightened Section 232 quotas on Brazilian steel. As announced in a presidential proclamation issued at the end of August (see 2008310010), the exemptions are available where the decreased quota would disrupt U.S. production activities under contracts entered into prior to Aug. 28, 2020. The exemptions are only available for steel shipped to the U.S. prior to Dec. 31, 2020, and the overall relief is limited to a total of 60,000,000 kilograms of steel. The temporary file rule takes effect Oct. 13, its scheduled date of publication in the Federal Register.
Americans for Prosperity is praising a bill introduced by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., which would eliminate most favored nation (MFN) tariffs and Section 301, Section 232 or any other punitive additional duty on 87 tariff lines that cover personal protective equipment. If the bill were to become law, it would eliminate tariffs through the end of 2022. “In a time of crisis, our leaders should be doing everything possible to remove barriers which diminish ease of access to those things that will keep us safe, preserve our livelihoods, and save American lives. With COVID-19 still looming and flu season fast approaching, we applaud Senator Toomey for introducing this measure to correct misguided policies which would impose tariffs on goods so directly linked to the wellbeing of American families and workers during these unprecedented times,” said Brent Gardner, chief government affairs officer at AFP. He urged Congress to take up the bill, which was first introduced just before the August recess.
The thousands of complaints seeking to vacate the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods and have the duties refunded warrant the Court of International Trade assigning the litigation to a three-judge panel instead of a single judge, Akin Gump said Sept. 30 on behalf of importers HMTX Industries and Jasco Products, in a court filing. The Department of Justice told Akin Gump it opposes the motion and will file a response, it said.
The Aluminum Association filed petitions on Sept. 29 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duty investigations on aluminum foil from Armenia, Brazil, Oman, Russia and Turkey, and new countervailing duties on aluminum foil from Oman and Turkey. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on aluminum from these countries that could eventually result in the assessment of AD/CV duties.
The Commerce Department is reopening the period for comments on its Section 232 investigation into potential tariffs or other import restrictions on vanadium, it said in a notice released Sept. 24. The agency will now accept comments for an additional 14 days, until Oct. 9. The comment period had originally run until July 20 (rebuttals were due Aug. 17) (see 2006020041). The investigation was requested in November 2019 by two domestic producers, AMG Vanadium and U.S. Vanadium.