Trade Cases

Administration Plans More Tariffs Even as Chinese Retaliate Over 232
Written by Tim Triplett
April 3, 2018
Tensions between Washington and Beijing over China’s policies toward U.S. and foreign investment and the multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States continued to escalate this week. In retaliation for the Trump administration’s tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, which took effect March 23, China has imposed tariffs on up to $3 billion in U.S. exports, mostly agricultural products, effective Monday, April 2.
For about 120 items, concessions made earlier by the Chinese have been withdrawn, resulting in a 15 percent tariff on certain U.S. exports, including fresh fruits, dried fruits and nut products, wines, modified ethanol and seamless steel pipes. For eight other items, including aluminum scrap and frozen pork and related products, the retaliatory tariff amounts to 25 percent, reports Washington trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz.
Under pressure from its allies, the Trump administration granted temporary exclusions from the Section 232 tariffs to Canada, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea and the EU countries until May 1 while trade negotiations continue. China, on the other hand, remains the main target of U.S. trade action.
Apparently undeterred by China’s reaction to the Section 232 tariffs, the U.S. Trade Representative this week is expected to recommend additional tariffs on $50 billion or more of Chinese imports as a result of the USTR’s investigation into China’s allegedly unfair intellectual property practices.
A statement from China’s Ministry of Finance claims that the U.S. tariffs violate the WTO agreement and have severely undermined China’s position. Suspending the tariff concessions on U.S. imports, the ministry said, is a justified move to safeguard China’s interests, using WTO rules.

Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Trade Cases

Market unfazed by US circuit court’s IEEPA decision
Repealing any reciprocal tariffs placed by President Donald Trump on US imports of direct reduced iron (DRI), iron ore, hot-briquetted iron (HBI), and pig iron would have only a nominal impact on the US steel market, market participants said.

ITC votes to keep HR duties after sunset review
The US government determined this week that hot-rolled steel imports from a handful of countries continue to threaten the domestic steel industry.

Steel Summit: Zekelman advocates for ‘Fortress North America’
Barry Zekelman has a unique vantage point from which to view today’s trade landscape. A Canadian national who owns operations in both the US and Canada, he has also had dialogue with both Canadian and American administrations.

Steel Summit: Execs urge clarity on trade/tariff policy, want stronger USMCA
Tariff policy dominated the discussion of the SMU Steel Summit trade panel on Tuesday afternoon. The message was clear: uncertainty is rattling the steel supply chain.

Final AD/CVD margins announced in coated steel trade case
The Commerce Department announced the final anti-dumping and countervailing duty (CVD) margins in the sprawling trade case investigating corrosion-resistant steel imports.