Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Trade is only a part of the national and global response to the pandemic that is now sweeping the world—but in our interconnected world, it’s a pretty important part. So far, it’s not nearly as bad as other […]
Canada voted to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement without amendment on Friday, March 13, but its implementation may be delayed by the coronavirus. Following passage of the agreement, Canada’s parliament was dismissed for three weeks to combat the spread of the virus.The next step for Canada is “royal assent” by the governor general and a final […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Does anyone else feel like riding a roller coaster for the next six months? We have been on one for about seven weeks now and there is no end in sight. The time has arrived to consider what […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As I write today, the politics of trade are becoming clearer. I’ve often been asked to predict where things are going and how politics will affect the markets. Here goes. This election year, trade is more controversial than […]
Earlier this week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled against an appeal by the American Institute for International Steel challenging the constitutionality of the Section 232 tariffs. The court affirmed a ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade, which upheld the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported steel. “While disappointed, we […]
The American Institute for International Steel suffered another setback in its constitutional challenge of the Trump administration’s use of Section 232 tariffs to restrict steel and aluminum imports on the basis of national security. In a ruling on Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the claim by AIIS that the “non-delegation doctrine” makes it […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As a participant of long standing in the saga of international trade cases, I can say that this week was particularly interesting. First, the U.S. International Trade Commission did something unusual—last Tuesday, it made a final negative determination […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission rejected antidumping and countervailing duties for fabricated structural steel from Canada, China and Mexico. The USITC found that the U.S. industry is not materially injured or threatened by imports of the products from the three countries after a Commerce investigation determined that China and Mexico were subsidizing the products and […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: First, I want to recap the World Trade Organization crisis. The Trump administration has put a big obstacle in the way of WTO dispute settlement by refusing to permit new members of the “supreme court” of the WTO […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: I received a question recently about the significance of Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Section 321 exempts imports from duties if they have an entered value of less than $800 per entry and meet certain […]
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a scathing report detailing what the U.S. believes is wrong with the dispute mechanisms of the World Trade Organization. In 174 pages, the department lays out the alleged failures of the Appellate Body to conduct business by “agreed rules.” “As detailed in this Report, the Appellate Body […]
Members of the New Democrat Coalition Trade Task Force are outraged that the report for the Section 232 investigation into auto imports has not been released and that the threat of tariffs continues to create economic uncertainty. The results of the investigation were submitted to President Trump in February 2019, but the report was never […]
In a self-initiated investigation, the Department of Commerce announced an affirmative circumvention ruling regarding corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) made from substrate from China and Taiwan. Commerce preliminarily determined that Chinese steel substrate shipped to Costa Rica, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates for minor processing, and then exported to the United States as CORE, is […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The Commerce Department has been active again on behalf of domestic petitioners seeking circumvention findings. On Monday, Commerce issued a preliminary finding of circumvention with respect to three countries (Costa Rica, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates). Two […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Feb. 4, the Commerce Department published a new regulation expanding countervailing duty law. Commerce will now for the first time entertain claims by U.S. industry that government action to “undervalue” a currency in relation to the U.S. […]
A new regulation from the U.S. Department of Commerce allows currency manipulation by foreign governments to be considered a subsidy subject to countervailing duties. “This Currency Rule is an important step in ensuring that unfair trade practices are properly remedied,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “While successive administrations have balked at countervailing foreign currency […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Friday’s vote in the Senate to end the impeachment trial of President Trump without calling witnesses or receiving additional evidence seals the fate of the impeachment effort. The Senate will hear closing arguments and debate the issues Monday […]
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement was signed into law by President Trump on Wednesday. The signing clears the way for Canada to begin the ratification process that is likely to be concluded in March. The president called the agreement the “largest, fairest, most balanced, and modern trade agreement ever achieved.” “Everybody said this was a deal that could […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The presidential proclamation announcing new tariffs on “derivative” steel and aluminum articles was published in the Jan. 29 Federal Register (85 Fed. Reg. 5281). There are two Annexes that detail the products covered by the new tariffs: 1. “Aluminum […]
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says that tariffs on imports of autos and parts are still on the table, refuting claims that the deadline has passed to impose such measures under Section 232. After Commerce delivered its report on the national security implications of imports of foreign autos to the administration, the president had 180 days […]
The Department of Commerce announced the affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations of imports of fabricated structural steel from Canada (AD only), China and Mexico, and a negative final determination in the CVD investigation of FSS from Canada. Canada and Mexico have been assigned antidumping rates of 6.7 percent and […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Friday, President Trump issued another proclamation on steel and aluminum. This time, the proclamation imposes tariffs on selected “derivative” products made from steel and aluminum. I was reminded of the movie “The Monster that Devoured Cleveland,” which […]
U.S. manufacturers have requested a total of 93,933 exclusions from steel tariffs and 13,249 exclusions from aluminum tariffs since the Trump administration imposed Section 232 in 2018. To get an exemption, an applicant must make the case that the metal they require is not available domestically in a sufficient quality or quantity. While Commerce has […]
Looking back on 2019, it’s difficult to assess the success of Trump’s tariffs. A case for their effectiveness can be made either way. Judging by one measure, imports, it certainly appears the tariffs did their job. The American Iron and Steel Institute estimates that total steel imports declined by approximately 17.9 percent in 2019 to […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Challenges to the Section 232 steel tariffs are intensifying lately. The cases raise issues going to the heart of the Section 232 import restrictions. Here is a summary of the court cases to watch: AIIS—challenging the constitutionality of […]
The Senate voted its approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in a sweeping 89-10 bipartisan vote on Thursday. The trade agreement now goes to President Trump for signature. The Canadian parliament is expected to follow suit, allowing the USMCA to be implemented later this year. The final agreement adds language addressing the internet, digital services and […]
In a concession to the Chinese as part of the phase one trade agreement signed Wednesday by President Trump and China’s Vice Premier Liu He, the U.S. will cut Section 301 duties on $120 billion in Chinese goods in half, from 15 percent to 7.5 percent, effective Feb. 14. China has agreed to increase its […]
The Alliance for American Manufacturing is more than a little skeptical that the China Phase One trade agreement will have value for American workers, calling it “completely inadequate” in a letter to President Trump. “The agreement does not level the playing field for American workers in the U.S. or global market,” wrote AAM President Scott […]
With a new trade deal in the works, the U.S. has declared that China is no longer a currency manipulator after labeling it one last summer. In August 2019, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, “under the auspices of President Trump,” determined that China was devaluating its currency to “gain an unfair competitive advantage in international trade.” […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: We are now in the third year of the steel tariffs. On Jan. 11, 2018, the Department of Commerce transmitted its report and recommendations to President Trump. The president was waiting for the document, which gave him power […]