The trade war that President Donald Trump began with China 16 months ago is creating pain for businesses, but there's a deeper strategic mistake to consider, said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for Asian economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Goodman, who was speaking during the first session in a Congressional Trade Series on Nov. 19, said, “I still don't know what the basic strategic goal is here." He said he didn't know whether the administration wants to get structural changes to China's economy, as it claims, or whether it wants to reduce the bilateral trade deficit, or to contain China's rise.

Fifty-one percent of retailers had to raise prices this holiday season to manage the costs of the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods, said an Adobe report released Tuesday. Four in 10 retailers are concerned about staying “price relevant” through Christmas, said Adobe, releasing findings from a holiday retailer survey.

The trade war that President Donald Trump began with China 16 months ago is creating pain for businesses, but there's a deeper strategic mistake to consider, said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for Asian economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Goodman, who was speaking during the first session in a Congressional Trade Series on Nov. 19, said, “I still don't know what the basic strategic goal is here." He said he didn't know whether the administration wants to get structural changes to China's economy, as it claims, or whether it wants to reduce the bilateral trade deficit, or to contain China's rise.

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 12-15 in case they were missed.

Importers of goods from the European Union need to be particularly careful about the complicated web of country coverage and exceptions under Section 301 tariffs that began in October, according to KPMG trade consultants speaking during a webinar on Nov. 19. The structure of the new tariffs creates opportunities for duty savings in the form of tariff engineering, shifting supply chains and taking advantage of narrow carve-outs.

An economics working paper found that importers are paying nearly as much for Chinese goods hit by tariffs as they did before Section 201 and 301 tariffs, which means Chinese companies are not the ones bearing the burden, contrary to President Donald Trump's claims. The Harvard University, University of Chicago and Federal Reserve Bank economists said they documented “that the tariffs were almost fully passed through to total prices paid by importers," but that doesn't mean Chinese companies aren't harmed, too. The tariffs would likely reduce the volume of U.S. purchases, even if Chinese companies are able to maintain their profit margins, they said.

Customs and Border Protection collected $36.84 billion in Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods for the life of the duties through Wednesday, said the agency’s trade statistics page. The first of the Chinese tariffs took effect July 6, 2018 (see 1806150030).

Customs and Border Protection collected $36.84 billion in Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods for the life of the duties through Wednesday, said the agency’s trade statistics page. The first of the Chinese tariffs took effect July 6, 2018 (see 1806150030).

Walmart continues to “monitor” the Section 301 “tariff discussions” between the U.S. and China and is “hopeful that an overarching long-term agreement can be reached,” said CEO Doug McMillon in a fiscal Q3 “management commentary” Thursday. “Our merchants continue to execute appropriate mitigation strategies as our goal is to be the low-price leader.” Walmart left unchanged its August full-year sales forecast. “Guidance assumptions include our current understanding of the timing of tariff implementation on various categories,” said McMillon. List 4B tariffs at 15 percent are scheduled to take effect Dec. 15 on smartphones, tablets, laptops and other tech categories.

The nominee for Court of International Trade Judge Stephen Vaden would need to review the specifics of a case that involves Section 301 tariffs before deciding whether a recusal is necessary, he said during a Nov. 13 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Vaden, who is general counsel at the Department of Agriculture and a member of the board of the Commodity Credit Corporation, said that he was involved in some discussion of the Section 301 tariffs as they related to aid given to farmers. Asked by ranking member Dianne Feinstein of California whether those discussions might result in a recusal in cases involving the tariffs, Vaden said he would follow the judicial standards for making the decision. “I would need to take a look at the parties that were before me, the issues that they were bringing, consult the law and also potentially consult my fellow judges before making a decision on a case by case basis regarding recusal," he said.