China bought about 13 million metric tons of American soybeans since December, when President Donald Trump decided to hold tariffs at 10 percent on List 3 of the Section 301 actions. But according to a new report from Bloomberg, those purchases have stopped. Officials told Bloomberg reporters that previously contracted sales will be honored. China may need fewer soybeans from any source because of the African swine flu epidemic crimping demand for livestock feed, the report noted.

Chinese imports subject to the third tranche of Section 301 tariffs that were on the water as of May 10 will stay at the 10 percent tariff rate through June 15. Originally, the tariffs were set to rise to 25 percent for entries on or after June 1. There will be a notice in the Federal Register next week, USTR said after hours May 31. "This limited extension will further account for customs enforcement factors and the transit time between China and the United States by sea," the press release said.

The temporary general license issued by the U.S. after it added Huawei Technologies to its Entity List has offered “almost no relief” for the U.S. semiconductor industry, which has been hurt severely by the move, said John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association. Speaking on U.S.-China trade issues at a Washington International Trade Association discussion on May 29, Neuffer underscored the importance of the Chinese market to U.S. semiconductor exporters and called on the Trump administration to more tactfully negotiate with China. “We would like the U.S. government to better balance its national security concerns with its economic security concerns,” Neuffer said.

Six weeks ago, the senior vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council believed the Trump administration's pressure was successfully empowering Chinese officials who believe in reforming China's capitalist/state-controlled hybrid economy. "I was pretty optimistic that we were, as a consequence, going to be able to say that the administration had achieved things that probably no previous administration had genuinely been able to achieve," Erin Ennis told an audience member at the Washington International Trade Association China trade panel May 29.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaks “on a regular basis” with Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs. “I’m monitoring with him very carefully” the impact of the Section 301 tariffs on Walmart customers, Mnuchin told the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday under questioning from Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa. Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly referenced Mnuchin’s testimony on a Q1 earnings call Thursday (see 1905230019) when he said the secretary had commented “that he is going to be very attentive to the impact on consumers” of the proposed List 4 tariffs on $300 million in Chinese goods not previously dutied. Mnuchin speaks to Walmart “because obviously, they have a lot of these consumer issues,” he told Axne. “The way the tariffs were designed was the last tranche was really the consumer issue,” he said. “My expectation is that a lot of this business will be moved from China to other places in the region, so that there will not be a cost” to consumers in the form of pass-along price increases should List 4 be imposed, he said. “There may be a small number of items where the tariff may be passed on,” and those will be addressed through an exclusion process that will launch as soon as the List 4 duties take effect, he said. Increased tariffs “will increase prices for customers,” said Biggs on a recent Walmart earnings call (see 1905160075). Walmart didn’t comment Friday on Mnuchin’s testimony.

HP’s forecast for fiscal 2019 ending Oct. 31 only factors in the expected financial impact to the company from the List 3 Section 301 tariffs currently in place, including the increase to 25 percent from 10 percent that took effect May 10 (see 1905090018), said Chief Financial Officer Steve Fieler on a fiscal Q2 earnings call Thursday. “We have not included the impact from any future tariffs,” he said, referencing the List 4 duties proposed May 17 on $300 billion in Chinese imports not previously tariffed (see 1905140025).

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 20-24 in case they were missed.

NEW ORLEANS -- The complexity of digital technology has made engineering more important than ever for audio companies, Sound United CEO Kevin Duffy told a media briefing, expanding on comments he made in opening Sound United’s first North American dealer meeting last week (see 1905210060).

HP’s forecast for fiscal 2019 ending Oct. 31 only factors in the expected financial impact to the company from the List 3 Section 301 tariffs currently in place, including the increase to 25 percent from 10 percent that took effect May 10 (see 1905090018), said Chief Financial Officer Steve Fieler on a fiscal Q2 earnings call Thursday. “We have not included the impact from any future tariffs,” he said, referencing the List 4 duties proposed May 17 on $300 billion in Chinese imports not previously tariffed (see 1905140025).

HP’s forecast for its fiscal year 2019 ending Oct. 31 only factors in the expected financial impact to the company from the List 3 Section 301 tariffs currently in place, including the increase to 25 percent from 10 percent that took effect May 10, Chief Financial Officer Steve Fieler said on a fiscal Q2 earnings call May 23. “We have not included the impact from any future tariffs,” he said, referencing the List 4 duties proposed May 17 on the $300 billion in Chinese imports not previously tariffed. HP continues to operate “in a dynamic environment that includes ongoing industry component constraints as well as macroeconomic, geopolitical and tariff uncertainties,” CEO Dion Weisler said. “But we have a highly experienced team and know how to navigate through complex market conditions.”