Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The transition to a new administration is now strongly under way. Tomorrow, the president-elect is set to name additional members of his economic team, including the roster of international trade officials. The time for speculation is over since […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: It’s nearing the end of the year—in this particular year, it’s hard to be sorry that we’ll soon turn the page—and time for some reflections. I read and study a lot of history and I find it helps […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As the 2020 election approaches its final chapters, the legal system has been front-page news. No less important is the rule of law in international trade matters. The Trump campaign and its allies have approached the courts to […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: At the end of 2020, rather than looking back I’d like to look forward. Anyone care to join me? We can anticipate some major changes in government and the economy. The Biden-Harris administration takes over in exactly one […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Exchange rates make international transactions possible. If a trading partner (let’s call them Country X) could keep its exchange rate abnormally low against the U.S. dollar, its exports to the U.S. would be more competitive and sales would […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The steel tariffs were in the news recently with the announcement of a settlement of a lawsuit brought to challenge denials of exclusion requests. This is the third case, by my unofficial count, that has been settled in […]
Mexico has agreed to strictly monitor exports of grain-oriented electrical steel in lieu of trade restrictions under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. A Nov. 5 statement from the U.S. Trade Representative said, “In light of these measures, imports from Mexico will not be subject to any action to adjust imports of […]
The Department of Commerce has self-initiated an investigation into the circumvention of antidumping and countervailing duty orders on oil country tubular goods from China. Commerce said on Thursday that it will investigate whether hot rolled steel sheet and strip from China is exported to Brunei and the Philippines for minor processing before being exported to […]
The Department of Commerce said it plans to move forward to implement tariffs or other trade remedies on imports of electrical steel components. Commerce launched a Section 232 investigation in May 2020 following comments by Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves regarding the continued viability of AK Steel Butler, the sole producer of electrical steel in the […]
Five congressional representatives are saying “don’t do it” to a proposal to impose Section 232 tariffs on imports of transformer cores, laminates and transformers. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Virginia Reps. Denver Riggleman, Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith, Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman and North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop said that imposition of tariffs […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: This campaign, like all others, is about many issues. The economy, though, is clearly the most powerful message of the Trump campaign. Over the last century or so, where does the Trump economy rank? There are many different […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The turmoil in this country continues. The election is now 30 days away. The president has COVID-19; the debates may not continue. And, our economy continues to suffer from the pandemic and the economic impact of disease and […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Each week seems to bring new surprises, economically and politically. I was struck by the monthly trade report and question from readers—I thought I’d pull them together and try to respond. The August trade report was released last […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Tariffs are coming at us from every direction, it seems like. Tariffs are taxes, as we hear a lot. Some taxes are predictable, but those on China, steel, aluminum, washing machines and solar panels tend to be vastly […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The election may already have been decided, but we can’t know that until election night and perhaps not even then. While we wait for those results, I want to take the time to explore a reader’s question I’ve […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: We now know, or at least think we know, who will be president next Jan. 20. Congratulations to Joe Biden. Formalities and lawful procedures still must be maintained. Disputes over allegedly invalid ballots, late arriving ballots, etc. will […]
With a presidential election on the horizon, the AIST Town Hall Forum asked steel executives how a new administration may affect the steel industry and trade. “I continue to expect bipartisan support in Washington for American workers, American steelmaking, regardless of who is in the White House,” said U.S. Steel CEO Dave Burritt. “But I […]
We are in high campaign season. The death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and the nomination of Judge Amy Covey Barrett of Indiana as her successor, have drained a lot of the oxygen about foreign policy and trade. But those issues will not disappear. In a briefing sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce […]
The Trump administration has received more than 3,300 lawsuits from manufacturers alleging that the most recent rounds of tariffs against China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 were unlawful and arbitrary. The first two rounds of tariffs covered $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. The third was implemented on $200 billion of […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: For international trade and politics, it’s hard to beat the past week. We saw numerous developments in the trade field—I’ll discuss a few of them: (1) an avalanche of lawsuits challenging the “Section 301” tariffs against $200 billion […]
Importers of steel and aluminum who have been critical of the Commerce Department’s handling of Section 232 exclusion requests have found an ally in the Government Accountability Office. In a report released Tuesday, the GAO called for Commerce to improve and speed up the process it uses to review tariff exclusion requests. The report noted […]
“More than 18 years after it acceded to the WTO, China continues to fail to comply with its WTO obligations,” stated the America Iron and Steel Institute in comments to the U.S. Trade Representative regarding China’s compliance with World Trade Organization rules. In a 44-page letter to the USTR, AISI claims there is overwhelming evidence […]
The U.S. has reversed its position on imposing tariffs on Canadian aluminum imports. The U.S Trade Representative said in a statement on Sept. 15, “After consultations with the Canadian government, the United States has determined that trade in non-alloyed, unwrought aluminum is likely to normalize in the last four months of 2020, with imports declining sharply […]
Iowa farmers are complaining that tariffs are causing opportunists to raise steel prices for materials needed to rebuild following the devastating derecho storm that damaged farms last month. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) penned a letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross asking that Section 232 tariffs be […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: New regulations published Sept. 11 in the Federal Register require steel importers to know and reveal the country where steel was “melted and poured” no matter how much the steel was processed thereafter. Steel importers have long been […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: I hope everyone had a restful and safe Labor Day weekend. Mine lasted a bit longer than it might. I’m back in the saddle, observing the international trade scene and also playing a small part in it. Things are, to put […]
The Trump administration has announced a tightening of Brazil’s steel quota that will sharply reduce the tonnage of steel slabs imported into the U.S. for the rest of the year. “In light of recent deterioration in market conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic affecting domestic steel producers, the United States has deemed it necessary […]
In response to U.S. complaints of recent surges, Mexico has agreed to strictly monitor exports of standard pipe, mechanical tubing and semifinished products through June 1, 2021. In exchange, the U.S. will maintain Mexico’s exemption from the Section 232 national security tariffs, said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in a statement on Monday. Section 232 […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: A number of readers have asked for particulars on the recent actions on steel trade between the United States, Brazil and Mexico. The numbers are available in some detail now. I will try to explain these for the […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Time was we looked with great interest at the deliberations of the party platform committees to see who was the most influential—young vs. old, moderates vs. conservatives vs. progressives, etc. In this year of the pandemic, the entire […]