The Biden administration plans to reinstate exemptions from Trump-era tariffs on about two-thirds of Chinese products that were previously granted waivers, most of which expired by the end of 2020. Read the article.

The deal will allow 500,000 metric tons of steel annually to be imported duty free, with higher amounts subject to tariffs, starting June 1, the Commerce Department said in a statement. The U.K. also will end retaliatory tariffs on more than $500 million worth of U.S. exports, including distilled spirits, agriculture products and consumer goods. … Read More

China is ramping up corn purchases from the U.S. as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine snarls grain exports and puts spring plantings in doubt, pushing prices higher in Chicago. The world’s top importer scooped up 200,000 tons of corn last week for shipment in the season beginning Sept. 1, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed Thursday. Read … Read More

For starters, both the U.S. and U.K. default tariff rates (UK calls their most favored nation default rate their “global” tariff rate) are already low. The Global Tariff averages at 6%, while the U.S. tariff averages at 3.4% across all product lines. Auto imports have a tariff of 2.5%. Pharmaceuticals are tariff-free. Read the article.

The U.S. trade deficit swelled in January to a record, reflecting pickups in the values of imported capital equipment and consumer goods as well as crude oil. The January gap in goods and services trade widened 9.4% to $89.7 billion, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday. The U.S. imported just 3% of its crude from Russia … Read More

Feb. 4. China signs a 30-year gas supply deal with Gazprom to build a new pipeline. And a 10-year oil supply deal with Rosneft. Feb. 25. China lifts all restrictions on Russian wheat imports. Read the article.

The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today released a statement after LG Electronics Inc. announced it was exiting the global solar panel business, a decision that will impact 160 employees and roughly 60 contract workers at LG’s corporate campus in Huntsville, Alabama, where the company has been assembling solar panels since 2018. Read the … Read More

The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today released a statement after LG Electronics Inc. announced it was exiting the global solar panel business, a decision that will impact 160 employees and roughly 60 contract workers at LG’s corporate campus in Huntsville, Alabama, where the company has been assembling solar panels since 2018. Read the … Read More

Paraguay’s oilseed processors are lobbying the government to allow duty-free soybean imports for the first time in order to keep their mills running as a drought slashes local production. Read the article.

Free trade has been getting a bad name. The political landscape that has supported free trade for decades, however, has shifted significantly in recent years, and not only in the United States. Protectionist currents are sweeping across every part of the world. Well into the 20th century, protectionism was standard practice for many nations. In the United … Read More