The top trade official in the British government and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said they want to do even more trade and investment between the two countries, even as a free-trade agreement is not the end goal. Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan had hoped that the Biden administration would continue the free trade negotiations started during the Trump administration, but that has not happened. Marjorie Chorlins, who leads the U.S.-U.K. Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also spoke at the March 21 plenary in Baltimore, saying the business community strongly supports more U.S.-U.K. economic cooperation.
Section 232 Tariffs
The United States currently maintains a 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on tariff on aluminum imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. In 2018, the Trump administration imposed Section 232 Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States, citing national security concerns. The U.S. agreed to lift tariffs on Canada and Mexico after the signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and reached deals with the European Union, Japan and other countries to replace the tariffs with quotas for steel and aluminum imports into the U.S.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will give stakeholders another 30 days to weigh in on procedures for evaluating the granting or denial of Section 232 tariff exclusions on imports of steel and aluminum, it said in a Federal Register notice to be published March 16. Comments can be submitted beginning that date at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, OMB Control Number 0694-0138.
The Commerce Department hasn't granted a steel or aluminum tariff exclusion since Dec. 17, 2021, and its last denial was posted Oct. 29, 2021. A lobbyist in the trade world said he has unsuccessfully tried to get to the bottom of why the Bureau of Industry and Security doesn't seem to be processing the applications at the moment. He said the Commerce Department told one office on Capitol Hill "there is no problem" and "that it's all functioning normally."
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 21-27:
The Bureau of Industry and Security is asking for comments on the Section 232 exclusion process, including the request, objection, rebuttal and surrebuttal process, the standards of review, transparency of the process, and General Approved Exclusions. Officials are particularly interested in hearing ideas about how to reduce the volume of submission errors and rejected filings in the exclusions portal; whether reducing the length or type of attachments could speed the processing of requests; whether there should be a public summary of confidential business information underpinning exclusion requests or objections; whether there should be public disclosure of delivery times in requests or objections; whether evidence supporting requests or objections should have to be from the last 90 days; and how to streamline the online forms. Comments should be filed at regulations.gov, docket number BIS-2021-0042, by March 28.
The Biden administration will allow 1.25 million metric tons of steel to enter under a tariff rate quota, it said Feb. 7, as long as those products are melted and poured in Japan. That would be more than the U.S. imported from Japan in 2019 and 2020, and more than last year -- preliminary data says that the U.S. imported about 989,000 metric tons of steel from Japan in 2021.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Jan. 24-30:
The U.S. and the United Kingdom this week began talks aimed at resolving their trade dispute over steel and aluminum tariffs (see 2112210051), the two countries said in a Jan. 19 joint statement. Although they didn’t release a timeline for the negotiations, the two sides will try to seek “effective solutions” for the Trump-era Section 232 aluminum and steel tariffs and the U.K.’s subsequent retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials that lead the group's international policy initiatives said again that the U.S. is wasting an opportunity by letting trade negotiations stall. The vice presidents in charge of Africa, Europe, the Western Hemisphere and Asia policy spoke on a Jan. 18 webinar that was a follow-up to the State of American Business program.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council should not be seen as a prelude to reentering talks for a comprehensive trade agreement, and she threw cold water on the idea of a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom as well.