Ambassador of the Month Archive

Mexico Supplants China as #1 US Trading Partner

Tuesday, August 06, 2019

The ongoing trade spat with China – and the subsequent U.S. tariffs on over $500 billion of Chinese goods has had another effect on the relationship between the two countries. For the first six months of 2019, Mexico supplanted China as the top trading partner of the United States. For the first half of the year, imports from China decreased 12%. In the same period, U.S. exports to China decreased 19%. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that for the six months of the year, the total value of the bilateral trade of goods between the U.S. and China was $271.04 billion. Thi...

Ten Percent Tariffs on Remaining Chinese Origin Goods Starting Sept. 1; Negotiations Continue

Saturday, August 03, 2019

President Trump announced in an Aug. 1 tweet that starting on Sept. 1, goods of Chinese origin that are not already on Lists 1, 2, or 3 will be subject to a 10% tariff. To be sure, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)—the government agency responsible for developing and recommending U.S. trade policy to the President—will have to finalize the list of affected tariff codes but the tweet means that virtually all trade from China will soon be subject to additional tariffs, unless a product's tariff code is one of the few tariff codes that have not been included or i...

Five California District Export Councils Gather at CalChamber

Friday, June 07, 2019

Members of the five California District Export Councils (DEC) met at the California Chamber of Commerce in Sacramento on May 22, to hear from Diane Farrell, deputy assistant secretary for Asia of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The current issues facing the trade community and the department’s new Indo-Pacific initiative were the focus of discussion. Following, the group attended other international trade-related events. The National Association of District Export Councils (DEC) contributes leadership and international trade expertise to complement the U.S. Commercial Service’s export promotion efforts through counseling businesses on the exporting process and conducting trade education and community outreach. The association i...

Five Percent Tariffs on Mexican Goods Starting June 10th

Monday, June 03, 2019

President Trump announced that starting on June 10, goods of Mexican origin will be subject to a 5 percent tariff. A statement released by the White House indicated that the tariffs would increase to 10 percent on July 1, 15 percent on August 1, 20 percent on September 1, and 25 percent on October 1, where they will remain until Mexico takes unspecified steps to curb illegal immigration to the United States. Pisani & Roll LLP will provide additional updates as further details are released, but since the stated rationale of the tariffs is said to be to incentivize Mexico t...

In Middle of Trade War, America’s Busiest Port Gets Ready for Robots

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Pier 400 in Los Angeles is North America’s largest shipping terminal. More than 1,700 trucks pass through, on average per day, even in the middle of the U.S.-China trade war. All that cargo translates into thousands of miles driven within the facility each day, mostly by diesel vehicles, spewing pollutants. For APM Terminals, the part of global shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S that runs the Los Angeles terminal, the future of cargo handling looks like the future of driving: electric motors replacing gasoline engines, autonomous software replacing human workers. The company says the changes are necessary to meet California rules requiring container terminals to reach zero emission...

Canada and Mexico Also Agree to Remove Their Retaliatory Duties

Monday, May 20, 2019

The United States and Canada announced that an agreement has been reached to remove the 25 percent "Section 232" duties on Canadian origin steel and 10 percent "Section 232" duties on Canadian origin aluminum. As part of the agreement, Canada also agreed to eliminate the retaliatory duties it had been charging on U.S. origin steel and aluminum, as well as on other non-steel/aluminum products. Canada and the United States also agreed to drop litigation at the World Trade Organization related to the steel and aluminum tariffs and to take steps to prevent aluminum and steel from being dumped and/or transshipped int...

CalChamber Reiterates Support for US-Mexico-Canada Agreement

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

The California Chamber of Commerce reminded the state’s representatives in Congress of the importance of the pending U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to the U.S. and California economies. The CalChamber continues to urge all members to ask their California congressional representatives to support the USMCA. Background The CalChamber actively supported the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, comprising almost 495 million people and combined annual trade with the United States of around $1.228 trillion in 2018. In 2018, goods exported topped $563.729 billion while goods imported totaled nearly $665.008 billion. President Donald J. Trump announced his inten...

U.S. Senators Vote to Unleash Full Potential of Export-Import Bank After Nearly 4 Years

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

In a bipartisan vote last week, the U.S. Senate confirmed three members for the Export-Import Bank Board of Directors to restore the export credit agency to full financing capacity. The three members, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 8 to serve staggering terms, are: Kimberly Reed as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, with a term expiring in January 2021. Spencer T. Bachus III as a board member, with a term expiring in January 2023. Judith Delzoppo Pryor as a board member, with a term expiring in January 2021. Remaining board member nominees, including one for Ex-Im Bank vice president, are line...

Ambassador of the Month Archive

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