Japan has launched a “consultation hotline” for Japanese companies located in Canada, Mexico and China that may be affected by new U.S. tariffs announced by the Trump administration (see 2502030016), Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Feb. 2. The hotline will provide “thorough support to Japanese companies affected,” according to an unofficial translation, including individual consultations from “experts specializing in North America and other areas.”
Canada announced then later rescinded retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. after both sides reached an agreement to delay new tariffs this week.
Companies should expect Trump administration to take an increasingly aggressive stance on China-related inbound and outbound investment restrictions, especially because of the makeup of President Donald Trump’s team and key Cabinet officials, a former Treasury Department official and trade consultant said.
Australian excise duties on alcoholic drinks were set to increase Feb. 1, leading to higher prices for imported U.S. distilled spirit products at retail stores and bars, USDA said in a report last week. The agency said Australia makes changes to its alcohol excise duty rates twice a year based on the “upward trajectory” of the Consumer Price Index. USDA said the Australian distilling industry is calling for an “immediate two-year freeze” on any hikes and a “broader review of spirits excise settings to create the conditions for greater investment in the industry.”
European Parliament members this week probed the EU’s new trade commissioner about how he’s handling President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, with some members calling on the EU to prepare for retaliation.
The EU is proposing new tariffs on certain imports of agricultural products and nitrogen-based fertilizers from Russia and Belarus, part of a push to reduce dependencies on products from the two countries. The potential tariffs would target the “15% of agricultural imports from Russia in 2023 that had not yet been subject to increased tariffs,” the European Commission said. “Once adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, all agricultural imports from Russia would be the subject of EU tariffs.”
The Trump administration may be beginning to favor the use of trade policy tools like tariffs to replace sanctions to compel foreign policy, researchers said on a podcast hosted by the Center for a New American Security last week.
Hours after President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions, tariffs and visa restrictions against Colombia for declining to accept a plane of deported migrants from the U.S., the White House said Colombia reversed course and agreed to the “unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens.”
The EU requested consultations with China at the World Trade Organization, alleging that China has empowered its courts to set worldwide royalty rates for EU standard essential patents, without the consent of the patent owner. The EU alleged that the measures violate Article 64.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and Article XXII:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.
A former top Commerce Department adviser in the Biden administration expects President Donald Trump and Congress to continue prioritizing export controls and other trade restrictions, although he said the government’s success partly depends on whether the administration can craft a clear, coordinated economic security strategy that doesn’t only rely on tariffs.