Steel Products Prices North America
March 26, 2023
Leibowitz: Which Government Branch Controls International Trade?
Written by Lewis Leibowitz
On March 17, the Court of International Trade, the federal court with jurisdiction over most cases involving international trade regulation, issued a major ruling giving control over China tariffs to the discretion of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The case dealt with legal challenges in nearly 4,000 separate cases to the “List 3” and “List 4” tariffs on imports from China in September 2018. The earlier “List 1” and “List 2” tariffs were not challenged. When the first two lists ($50 billion in trade value) failed to change China’s behavior (no surprise there), USTR announced more proposed tariffs to hit more trade from China. Adverse public comments poured in, as did comments in support. In the end, USTR hit more goods (nearly $400 billion in trade value) with tariffs. USTR did not publicly respond to adverse comments. And, as we all know, China’s behavior has still not changed.
