Trump tariffs

Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, are working on legislation that would strengthen U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia, they said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting May 1. Engel said they are planning to introduce a bill that will “protect America’s interests, ramp up the targeted sanctions, enhance diplomacy and counter propaganda efforts to meet the Russian threat.” McCaul said he and Engel had breakfast with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier that day and said “there’s no doubt” Pompeo “looks at Russia as a great threat” to the U.S. “I don't think this is a partisan issue,” McCaul said. “I hope we can pass legislation out of this committee.”

In the April 30 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union is setting to almost zero its long-standing retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. products for U.S. distributions of antidumping and countervailing duties to affected U.S. industries, it said in a notice. With distributions amounting to only a few thousand this year, the tariff, which applies to corn of EU subheading 0710.40.00, jeans of EU subheading 6204.62.31, mobile cranes of heading 8705.10.00 and eyeglasses frames of former subheading 9003.19.00, will fall to 0.001%, down from 4.3% last year. The new tariff rates take effect May 1.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation supports President Donald Trump's plans to withdraw from the Arms Trade Treaty (see 1904260063), the group said in a news release. "The treaty was intended to control the international trade in firearms under the guise of protecting human rights," the group said. "The National Shooting Sports Foundation strongly opposed the treaty as it would have exposed the firearms and ammunition industry to a confusing web of international regulations that would not have contributed to curbing illegal arms trafficking, protecting human rights or guaranteeing the rights of United States citizens." The international sales of arms are still "highly regulated by U.S. law and this action has no effect upon these stringent export controls," the group said.

Reforms of Mexico's labor laws passed its Senate overwhelmingly April 29, and that vote was hailed by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. "These reforms will greatly improve Mexico's system of labor justice and are exactly what labor leaders in the United States and Mexico have sought for decades. As we move forward with the ratification of USMCA, the Trump Administration will work closely with members of the United States Congress and the Mexican government to ensure these reforms are implemented and enforced," his office said in a statement the evening of April 29.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will place the “highest-level sanctions” and a “complete embargo” on Cuba if it does not stop “military and other operations” in Venezuela. The announcement, made April 30, came hours after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido called for a military uprising. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said earlier that Cuban troops were aiding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to the Associated Press.

Jacob Lew, a former chief of staff and Treasury secretary under President Barack Obama, called the Trump administration's approach to trade and sanctions “troubling,” saying the administration is placing unneeded stress on U.S. allies and damaging the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy. Speaking April 30 at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think-tank focused on national security, Lew was critical of Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, was skeptical of the president’s “brute force” approach to trade deals and pointed to “worrisome trends” that he said will lead to U.S. undermining its own sanctions. Among those trends, Lew said, are “ambiguous diplomatic objectives, growing unpredictability, increased unilateral action” and a “narrow focus on isolated policies with less regard for the broader context.”

It's unclear how North Korean leader Kim Jong Un got the armored Mercedes-Maybach limousines made by Daimler that Kim used for several recent meetings with international leaders, a spokesman for the company said. In an April 29 email, a Daimler spokesman said the company has a “comprehensive export control process” to “prevent” all sales to North Korea. “We have no indication how those vehicles have come to the use of” North Korea, he said. Exports of luxury goods to North Korea are banned under United Nations sanctions, and sanctions imposed by the U.S. allow the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to designate any person who “engages in a significant export to or import from North Korea,” according to the Treasury.

Canada will enact final safeguards on two categories of steel and begin consultations on the five categories that the Canadian International Trade Tribunal didn't recommend for safeguard tariffs (see 1904040051), the Department of Finance Canada said in an April 26 news release. The 30-day consultation with industry and workers will help "determine what further protections are required," it said. The CITT said the safeguards were deserved for imports of heavy plate and stainless steel wire.

The Aerospace Industries Association asked the Commerce Department for more time before it sets space-related export control regulations, in order to allow for its member companies to have "open discussions with the government," in comments filed in a Bureau of Industry and Security proposed rulemaking regarding the Commerce Control List for munitions. The trade group said it lacked an "industry consensus" on multiple changes being considered. The comments were solicited by State and Commerce after both requested public comments on a proposal for items listed on the U.S. Munitions List in categories IV and XV: launch vehicles and spacecraft. The proposal is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to revive the National Space Council and review space-related export controls (see 1904180014). Comments were due April 22