Stephen Vaden, general counsel at the Department of Agriculture, was approved for the Court of International Trade in early January. Vaden, in the hearing on his nomination, said he would decide later if he should recuse himself on Section 301 cases (see 1911150010). He was involved in discussions on aid to farmers sent because of Chinese retaliation for the Section 301 tariffs.
Section 301 (too broad)
Tariffs on French champagne, cheeses, handbags and other products (see 2001060040) will not be coming, several news outlets are reporting, since France has agreed not to impose a Digital Services Tax in 2020 as negotiations continue at the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development on a fair way to impose income taxes on companies such as Google and Amazon.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 13-17 in case they were missed.
The phase one “economic and trade agreement” the U.S. and China signed Jan. 15 will take effect in 30 days and can be terminated by either country with 60 days' written notice, the deal's text said. Phase one is “a big step toward normalizing our trading relationship with China,” the Consumer Technology Association said, but “market uncertainty remains until we see permanent tariff removal.” The National Retail Federation also welcomed phase one but said phase two “can’t come soon enough.”
A coalition of U.S. manufacturers seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on vertical shaft engines between 225 cc and 999 cc, and parts thereof, from China, it said in a petition filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission Jan. 15. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative posted a notice on the coming tariff decrease for goods from China on the 4A list that was part of the phase one trade deal between the countries (see 2001150033). “In light of the scheduled entry into force of the phase one agreement,” the goods on the 4A list will be subject to 7.5 percent tariffs, down from 15 percent, starting Feb. 14 at 12:01 a.m. EST, the USTR said.
Whether the flow of counterfeit goods shipped from China will abate as a result of the phase one U.S.-China trade agreement is yet to be seen, but Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said the “language was pretty detailed and complete.” Allen, who was responding to a question from International Trade Today during a Jan. 16 conference call, said this represents “a huge shift in the official Chinese attitude. We should be appreciative of the Chinese government commitment here to better police that [counterfeit problem] internally and at their own border.”
The 15 percent tariffs on goods from China included on list 4A will be reduced to 7.5 percent thirty days from today, a Trump administration official said during a Jan. 15 conference call with reporters. President Donald Trump previously announced the decrease, but it was not mentioned in materials released as part of the Phase One deal signed with China. A Federal Register notice on the reduction will be posted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative soon, the official said.
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping duty investigations on forged steel fluid end blocks from Germany, India and Italy (A-428-847, A-533-893, A-475-840), as well as its new countervailing duty investigations on forged steel fluid end blocks from Germany, India, Italy and China (C-475-848, C-533-894, C-475-841, C-570-116).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 6-10 in case they were missed.