Commerce Department

President Trump on Monday said he would re-impose national security-based tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina, which he said had endorsed “massive” currency devaluations that have hurt U.S. companies.

The Commerce Department on Tuesday issued proposed regulations that would allow it to block foreign information and communications technology and services from entering the U.S. if the Commerce secretary determines they posed national security risks.

The U.S. International Trade Commission determined on Friday that the U.S. industry has been harmed by dumped fresh tomatoes from Mexico, meaning a suspension agreement signed earlier this year by the Commerce Department and Mexican tomato growers will remain in effect.

The “Play by the Rules Act” would give the Commerce Department greater flexibility to review anti-circumvention petitions filed against non-market economies.

Cordell Hull was named deputy under secretary at the Bureau of Industry and Security. Joe Semsar was named deputy under secretary at the International Trade Administration,

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this week is expected to announce a delay of a Section 232 action based on the national security implications of auto and auto-parts imports and instead issue a report that includes auto industry investment plans crafted to stave off the imposition of trade restrictions, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade.

“We have long been concerned about the lack of transparency and consistency in the Department of Commerce’s Section 232 tariff exclusion process.”

Year-to-date, the overall gap has “increased $24.8 billion, or 5.4 percent, from the same period in 2018.”

The publication of regulations crafted to implement a May executive order on protecting the U.S. information and communications technology supply chain is being delayed in part because of ongoing trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, according to industry sources.