The EU will consider upcoming U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum as it enters the final stages of a review of its steel safeguard measures (see 2412180032), with the aim of protecting European firms from import surges caused by the coming tariffs, said Leopoldo Rubinacci, the European Commission’s deputy director-general for trade.
Christopher Padilla is leaving his role as vice president for government and regulatory affairs at IBM to join the Brunswick Group as a senior adviser, he announced on LinkedIn. Padilla, a former Bureau of Industry and Security senior official, said he will advise on trade and tariff issues.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is facing a backlog of export license applications and a barrage of questions from industry after applications were put on hold earlier this month, although the agency hopes to see processing slowly return to normal as political appointees are put in place, Export Compliance Daily has learned.
The European Commission knocked down reporting that it is ready to drop its 10% tariffs on autos, and defended the pattern of trade between the EU and the U.S. in a FAQ document on the concept of reciprocal tariffs.
The European Commission criticized President Donald Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs against trading partners (see 2502130030), calling it a “step in the wrong direction” and vowing to protect European businesses from any “unjustified tariff measures.”
India and the U.S. will negotiate a bilateral trade agreement that will cover multiple sectors in tranches, with the first aiming for completion in the fall of 2025, President Donald Turmp and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in their joint statement, released after their meeting Feb. 13. The two leaders also announced plans to increase U.S. military sales to India and possibly reduce defense trade restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
Former President Joe Biden's administration made the most “aggressive and far-reaching use” of trade tools of any U.S. administration in history, and the new Trump administration is on track to “wield these tools in an even more aggressive manner,” Gibson Dunn said in a 2024 international trade recap released this month. Although the Treasury Department under Biden imposed sanctions at a faster rate than any of his predecessors, the law firm noted that President Donald Trump favors tariffs, which could cause the targets of those tariffs, including U.S. trading partners in Europe and Asia, to deploy similar tools “either in retaliation against U.S. measures or in pursuit of their own strategic interests.”
A new European Parliament briefing published this week analyzes the state of EU sanctions against Russia, including developments last year and possible next steps that the bloc could take to increase pressure against Moscow.
Japan has asked the Trump administration to exempt it from new 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoji Muto said during a Feb. 12 press conference.
The U.S. needs to expand its export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment to focus on "foundational" chips and not just advanced ones, policy analyst Dmitri Alperovitch said.