CBP will require new data on entry summaries for aluminum products beginning on April 10, the agency said in a CSMS message issued March 9. The data will aid its enforcement of increased Section 232 tariffs on Russian aluminum that include articles from third countries that use any Russian aluminum (see 2302240006).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The victories that countries won at the World Trade Organization over American steel and aluminum tariffs (see 2212090060) will only complicate the discussion on how to bring back binding dispute settlement, panelists said at a Washington International Trade Association event.
Proclamations increasing tariffs on Russian goods (see 2302240006) were published in the March 2 Federal Register, alongside annexes detailing the tariff subheadings facing the tariff increases. President Joe Biden authorized hiking tariffs from 35% to 70% on 45 products from Russia, largely steel and iron products, but also copper, lead, industrial diamonds and some aluminum categories; and upped tariffs on most aluminum products to 200%. Most of the 570 products previously subject to the 35% tariff will remain taxed at 35%.
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The new Republican majority in the House Ways and Means Committee said it plans to do oversight across a multitude of trade policies advanced by the administration, including enforcement of trade agreements and trade negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade and the U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership. For existing FTAs, the committee said it wishes to identify provisions that should be updated to improve the agreements' benefits for the U.S.
A trade group for the Mexican steel industry, CANACERO, warned that Mexico likely will retaliate against U.S. steel exports if the U.S. reimposes 25% tariffs on Mexican steel -- and the U.S. exports much more steel to Mexico than vice versa.
On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House said that, beginning March 10, there will be a 200% tariff on Russian aluminum exports, including derivative products, and, beginning on April 10, aluminum articles from other countries that used any aluminum from Russia also will be tariffed at 200%, unless those third countries also impose 200% tariffs on imported Russian aluminum.
A bipartisan group of senators signed a Feb. 14 letter urging the Biden administration to take action against a surge of Mexican steel imports. The letter said tariffs can be reintroduced under a 2019 agreement that removed Section 232 duties on Mexican steel imports but allows them to be reintroduced if Mexican steel imports "exceed historic volumes of trade" and "surge meaningfully" into the market. The lawmakers said iron and steel imports increased about 73% over the agreed baseline from 2015 to 2017, which they believe requires action from the administration under the agreement.
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