The Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (Commerce or ITA) has announced the self-initiation of inquiries into possible circumvention involving exports of certain corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) made with substrate from China or Taiwan, completed in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Malaysia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and then exported to the United States. In undertaking these inquiries, ITA will determine whether imports of CORE completed in each of these countries using Chinese-origin substrate,…

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a press statement announcing the list of imports from China that will face a Section 301 10 percent tariff (see also Trump and Trade Update of May 14, 2019). Implementation of the tariff on approximately $300 billion worth of Chinese products will occur in two phases. For most products, the tariff will go into effect on September 1, 2019, as announced by President Donald Trump on August 1,…

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced yesterday that Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin is designating China as a “currency manipulator,” stating that “China has taken concrete steps to devalue its currency, while maintaining substantial foreign exchange reserves despite active use of such tools in the past. The context of these actions and the implausibility of China’s market stability rationale confirm that the purpose of China’s currency devaluation is to gain an unfair competitive…

On August 2, 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued its first batch of Section 301 product exclusions for imported Chinese products appearing on List 3. These products, which have an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion, have been subject to Section 301 tariffs since September 24, 2018. The USTR determined that 10 specific products will be excluded from the tariffs, covering 15 separate exclusion requests: (1) certain container units of…

It has not been officially announced yet, but President Donald Trump tweeted today (see below) that products on the yet-to-be-finalized Tranche/List 4 of imports from China valued at $300 billion will be assessed a 10 percent tariff starting September 1. While noting that this week’s trade negotiations between the U.S. and Chinese governments were constructive after faltering in May 2019 (see Trump and Trade Update of May 14, 2019), the president stated that China…

On July 30, 2019, JSW Steel (USA), Inc. (JSW) filed a complaint against the United States and, specifically, the Department of Commerce (Department) for denying its product exclusion requests for certain steel imports that otherwise are subject to a 25 percent tariff under President Donald Trump’s March 2018 proclamation implementing such tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The complaint seeks declaratory relief from the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT)…