TRADE AUTO EMAIL

Editor's note: This story was updated after initial publication to correct the amount of funding requested by the ITC for FY2026 and to note the administration requested the same level. The U.S. International Trade Commission’s new draft five-year strategic plan proposes to continue a Biden-era push to bolster staffing and capacity in response to the “increasing complexity” of its duties, while pledging to modernize the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States in line with a multiyear “major upgrade...

The World Trade Organization is expected to begin “formal” consultations with members on dispute settlement reform following the General Council meeting next month, a move that comes as the U.S. elaborated its broader concerns with the system and questioned the “viability” of reform. During a Dispute Settlement Body meeting on Friday, the chair, New Zealand Ambassador Clare Kelly, said she held informal consultations in July in which delegations cited dispute settlement reform as a top priority and wanted to build...

U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement partners should create an independent body to handle rapid-response mechanism investigations for all three countries, according to a new report from Rethink Trade that recommends “systemic” reforms ahead of the first USMCA review next year. Rethink Trade, led by the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly advocacy group, on Thursday published its analysis of how the U.S. and Mexico have used the RRM to date and how USMCA partners might improve the mechanism during next year’s review. The...

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the Court of International Trade’s finding that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative had the authority to drastically increase tariffs on China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, handing a loss to thousands of importers who had claimed the first Trump administration improperly imposed the levies on $320 billion worth of Chinese goods. CIT in March 2023 ruled that USTR was within its statutory authority to expand Section 301...

The Commerce Department has opened new national security-focused investigations that could spur tariffs on personal protective equipment and other medical items, robotics and industrial machinery. The agency announced the two new Section 232 (Trade Expansion Act of 1962) probes in draft Federal Register notices set to be published on Friday, after which public comments will be solicited for 21 days. The Trump administration has opened a slew of such investigations and said many will lead to new or higher tariffs...

Congress’s failure to pass bills that would repeal President Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs or narrow the statute they are based on undermines challengers’ claims that he is improperly wielding power the Constitution reserves to the legislature, supporters of the administration told the Supreme Court in newly filed briefs. “[I]f there actually was a presidential usurpation of a power that the Congress never delegated, one would expect that Congress would, by joint resolution, terminate the state of emergency...

China will no longer ask for or avail itself of benefits and flexibilities for developing countries as a part of World Trade Organization negotiations, Beijing announced on Tuesday. The announcement, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, marks a new position for China, which in recent years has said it will take on commitments “commensurate” with its level of development. In practice, Beijing has committed not to take advantage of such benefits, known as...

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to clarify that an official describing the rethinking was referring to the country’s position on making the moratorium permanent. GENEVA -- Brazil is reconsidering its position on a moratorium on e-commerce duties that the U.S. and some other World Trade Organization members want to make permanent, according to two sources here. Members established the prohibition as a temporary measure in 1998 as part of an ongoing work program on e-commerce and have...