“Recent Developments in Tariffs and Trade Remedies”

It is a turbulent time for international trade in the United States and businesses are navigating how the NAFTA negotiations and the steel and aluminum tariffs will affect them. It is confusing for companies to understand the application of these policy actions, so The World Trade Center Kansas City partnered with the international trade attorneys of Husch Blackwell to co-host a seminar for Kansas City area businesses interested in learning how the tariffs may affect them.

The seminar was also attended by the Canadian Consul General John Cruickshank. The Consul General noted that Canada and the United States are the most closely integrated economies in the world with the most efficient trading practices. He pointed to the fact that most steel and aluminum that leaves Canada to the United States is contributed to a product and often sold back to Canada, for example as a car or airplane part. He is hopeful for a settlement on the NAFTA negotiations in the next month as it is too important for all three economies involved.

After hearing the expertise of the Consul General, the attorneys of Husch Blackwell led an excellent presentation regarding Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974—the statutes being employed by the Trump Administration for the steel and aluminum tariffs and the proposed tariffs on thousands of other products announced as retaliation for China’s intellectual property practices. Beau Jackson, Partner at Husch Blackwell, is highly experienced in international trade litigation, regulation and compliance focused on trade and intellectual property disputes. Also presenting was Nithya Nagarajan, Partner at Husch Blackwell, who has extensive background in U.S. trade issues spanning 25 years.

Beau and Nithya recommended that businesses carefully read through the list of products with enacted or proposed tariffs to see if they or anyone in their supply chain depend on any articles listed. If their respective product is on there, they should consider how it may receive an exemption given the Department of Commerce’s criteria. If they seek an exemption, they must submit the request on specific forms as published on the Department of Commerce’s website and they will need to include substantial documentation. Such submissions are due May 11th, 2018.

For questions regarding your company’s options, please contact attorneys Beau Jackson (beau.jackson@huschblackwell.com) and Nithya Nagarajan (nithya.nagarajan@huschblackwell.com).