The Trade Office explains that as of September 1 it will make several changes to the list of products: it will remove some from Greece and the United Kingdom, but it will offset their value by adding products from France and Germany to the list. It will also maintain rates of 15% for goods in … Read More

Thursday, Aug. 22, was the second day of hearings held this month by the U.S. Trade Representative to allow Southeast farmers to air their grievances about rising imports of cheap Mexican fruits and vegetables. The hearing started off with witnesses like Georgia Farm Bureau President Gerald Long, who added another voice to the call for … Read More

Europe has agreed to suspend tariffs on imports of live and frozen lobster from the U.S. for at least 5 years. In exchange, the U.S. will cut tariffs by 50% on some European products, including crystal glassware and cigarette lighters. While the agreement covers a tiny fraction of trans-Atlantic trade, it’s important for the American … Read More

China, the world’s top soybean buyer, is ditching expensive Brazilian purchases and replacing previously done deals with American supplies, according to people familiar with the transactions. My note: Tariffs work as leverage. Read the article.

Next time a free trader says tariffs hurt consumers, show them the facts in this article: By December 2018, washing machine prices due to tariffs were 13% higher than a year earlier. But prices have been drifting down and today they are below pre-tariff levels. Read the article.

India will stop importing more than 100 items used by its armed forces in a bid to boost local manufacturing. The ban will be implemented gradually, starting with products like sniper rifles and light-combat helicopters in December 2020 and long range land-attack cruise missiles in December 2025, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement … Read More

Canada plans to strike back against the United States with $3.6 billion of tariffs after President Trump revived a trade spat by announcing import taxes on Canadian aluminum. The White House said imports of “non-alloyed unwrought aluminum from Canada” increased 87 per cent between June 2019 and May 2020, compared to the same months one … Read More

Indonesia, the world’s biggest buyer of sugar, is striving to cut imports by boosting domestic production at a time when rising affluence is increasing demand for sugary food and drinks. The group’s white sugar output accounts for 40% of domestic production, and it hopes to reduce Indonesia’s imports as output increases and market share rises. … Read More

Arrogant Westerners assume that Chinese investors, owners of American real estate, and legions of students will be eventually overwhelmed by American popular culture, liberality, affluence, and freedom, and that they will therefore repatriate to China as subversive agents of change. Chinese state subsidies, we were told, would in the long run bankrupt China long before … Read More

Michael Bless, chief executive of Century Aluminum, one of the few remaining U.S. primary aluminum smelting companies and which lobbied for the tariffs, said the move “helps to secure continued domestic production of this vital strategic material”. During a speech at a Whirlpool Corp washing machine factory in Ohio to tout his “America First” trade … Read More