Commerce Department

A coalition of industry trade associations is pushing the Commerce Department to rethink its addition of hundreds of product categories to those subject to 50 percent duties on steel, aluminum and their derivatives, saying the new requirements imposed significant burdens on importers without sufficient time or “clear guidance” for how to comply. On Sept. 16, 43 trade groups sent a joint letter to Jeffrey Kessler, the head of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, arguing that the agency’s expansion of...

U.S. businesses and households are bearing the brunt of the Trump administration’s tariff policies, the head of the Congressional Budget Office said on Monday, though Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick insists that manufacturers and foreign countries are on the hook for paying duties. During a Sept. 15 interview with CNBC , CBO Director Phillip Swagel cited new agency projections in contending that the administration’s tariff regime is hurting U.S. consumers and the economy. Tax cuts approved by the president are “boosting...

The U.S. lumber industry is asking the Trump administration for significant trade relief “now” on lumber imports, though the status of a national security probe into those imports remains unclear. The U.S. Lumber Coalition, an alliance of softwood lumber producers, their employees and woodland owners, called for urgent trade relief under a pending Section 232 (of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962) investigation in a Sept. 9 letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, made...

The U.S. is close to a “big deal” with Taiwan, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday, adding that the administration was focused on agreements with Switzerland and India as well -- while waiting for South Korea to agree to terms on an already announced accord. During a Sept. 11 interview with CNBC , Lutnick offered an update on trade talks with a host of countries. He said the U.S. had “a big deal coming with Taiwan,” adding: “We’ll probably...

A framework trade agreement between the U.S. and the United Kingdom includes promising language on mutual recognition, a panel of environment technology industry representatives said this week, calling on the administration to deepen that work and use it as a model in negotiations with other partners. In a forthcoming letter to Commerce Secretary Lutnick, approved during a virtual panel meeting on Tuesday, the Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee lauds the Trump administration for seeking to expand export markets as part...

The Commerce Department has quietly pushed back plans to open a process for adding to a list of auto parts subject to national security duties, a procedure expected to resemble one instituted for steel and aluminum tariffs in the spring that sparked concern among some major business groups. The process would allow stakeholders to petition Commerce to subject more auto-related goods to 25 percent tariffs imposed in March under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Commerce’s International...