In a recent Law360 article, Thompson Coburn partner Robert Shapiro shared insights on President Trump’s plan to escalate tariffs on Chinese imports by an additional 50%, potentially driving the overall rate past 100%. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was set to testify this week before House and Senate trade committees.
Robert suggested Greer should clarify how the reciprocal tariffs align with unfair U.S. treatment, because it appears the calculations are instead based on a country’s U.S. trade surplus divided by the total value of exports it has, rather than attempting to quantify the tariff and non-tariff barriers each country has with respect to U.S. goods.
“If the tariffs are largely based on the relative trade balance between countries, how are countries to adjust that balance, assuming that most countries operate under free trade models, rather than centralized purchasing from the government?” he said.
Robert also noted that items subject to tariffs under Section 232 such as steel and aluminum imports are not subject to the reciprocal tariffs, which in some cases could result “in the steel items having a lower rate of duty than low value items that are not likely to be manufactured in the United States.”
Click here to read the full article in Law360.
Robert’s previous comments on tariff impacts also were featured in Law360, covering both general trade deals and President Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement. Access the full articles here and here.
