TRADE AUTO EMAIL

President Trump on Thursday issued an executive order that will ease the 15 percent tariffs he imposed on Japan per the countries’ bilateral tariff deal by making the rate “inclusive” with most-favored nation duties rather than stacking them -- a change that will be retroactive for many products, meaning importers could be refunded for tariffs already paid, though vehicles appear ineligible for that benefit. The Sept. 4 order sets total tariffs on Japanese goods at either a flat 15 percent...

The Trump administration and the businesses and states challenging its International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs hope to dramatically accelerate an expected Supreme Court review of the case, proposing to the high court a schedule that would set up a final decision as soon as the end of the year, the Justice Department said in a filing late Wednesday. The Justice Department submitted its proposed schedule as part of a formal request for the justices to review and eventually overturn...

The European Union made a massive exception to its standard-operating procedure by agreeing to a deal with the U.S. that disregards the World Trade Organization’s most-favored-nation principle -- an exception that one former trade official says condones the Trump administration’s dislike for the international order. But the U.S., other former trade negotiators contend, is a special case because it already has abandoned the multilateral system it was fundamental in creating. In the joint framework reached with the U.S. in July,...

The landmark appellate decision rejecting President Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs also represents a fresh defeat for challengers who have filed suit over the duties outside the Court of International Trade, as it includes a unanimous finding that CIT has exclusive authority over the litigation. Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit split 7-4 on whether to uphold CIT’s decision that the tariffs on Canada, China, Mexico and U.S. trading partners generally go beyond what...

The Justice Department last week launched a “cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force” to ensure “robust” efforts to stop those who work to avoid tariffs and duties. The department linked the task force’s creation to President Trump’s day-one “America First” trade policy, saying compliance with trade laws and the payment of tariffs and duties are vital to its success. The task force “will augment the existing coordination mechanisms within the Department of Justice and leverage expertise from both the Civil and...

Last week’s court ruling against President Trump’s “emergency” tariffs is a “hiccup” that will not derail the administration’s pursuit of new deals or the use of tariffs to advance its trade policy, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize tariffs Trump has imposed on nearly all U.S. trading partners because of what the president has deemed national...

Editor's note: The White House statement referenced in the story no longer includes language about the WTO; the White House has not yet responded to a question about why. The link below is to the original version of the statement. President Trump on Friday moved to cancel nearly $29 million in U.S. funding for what the White House called a “toothless” World Trade Organization, claiming it has “aided and abetted global trade cheating by the Chinese Communist party” for...

China’s decision to send its vice commerce minister to Washington, DC, for trade talks this week have sparked new hopes that the U.S. and Beijing could strike a first-stage deal that would boost U.S. soybean exports, said U.S. Soybean Export Council CEO Jim Sutter. Vice Commerce Minister and International Trade Representative Li Chenggang is in Washington “to meet with relevant officials” after leading a delegation to Canada earlier in the week, a spokeswoman for China’s Ministry of Commerce said at...

The Trump administration is moving ahead on its plan to end duty-free treatment for low-value shipments on Friday, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said, contending that foreign postal services that have paused U.S.-bound shipments ahead of the change must “get their act together” to adapt. President Trump in late July issued an executive order invoking emergency powers to eliminate duty-free treatment of shipments worth $800 or less effective Aug. 29, ending so-called “de minimis” privileges for most low-value shipments...