Category Archives: European Union

EU and Mexico reach new trade agreement.

May 4, 2020 By in European Union, trade deal, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , Leave a comment
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Last week was the culmination of two years of negotiation between the European Union and Mexico to reach a new free-trade agreement. The last trade deal occurred in 2000 and that trade deal covered only industrial goods.

Details of the EU-Mexico trade agreement can be downloaded in PDF directly from the EU website here. Part of the new EU/Mexico trade deal changes include:

1. Almost all goods between the Mexico and EU will be duty free;
2. New rules on sustainable development and implementation of Paris Climate Agreement;
3. New rules on investment protection;
4. Simpler customs procedures to help boost exports.

While the terms of the agreement have been reached, the next step is to finalize the agreement, translate into EU languages and then submit the proposed agreement for signature and conclusion to the Council and European Parliament.

US – UK trade deal by end of the year?

January 24, 2020 By in European Union, trade deal, UK, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment
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With the UK set to formally leave the EU at 11:00 pm next Friday, January 31st, both the US and the UK have expressed strong interest in forming their own trade deal expected to be reached by the end of the year.

The goal at the end of the year reflects a comment by US Treasury Secretary Mr. Mnuchin in December 31 stating he wanted an “aggressive timeline” and that “It’s an absolute priority of President Trump and we expect to complete that within this year.”

Besides the US, it is expected that the UK seek trade deals with world wide and even the EU. EU negotiator Michel Barnier mentioned that “We are looking at a possibility of a relationship in the trade side where we will have zero tariffs and zero quotas between the EU and UK.” This would be the first for any non EU party and would allow access to the 450 million people under the EU umbrella.

Trump will decide tariffs on auto imports “soon”.

November 14, 2019 By in automobile, European Union, Japan, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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Today’s November 14th deadline on whether to impose tariffs (duties) on cars and auto parts imported into the US will likely result in President Trump extending the time to make a decision.

These additional tariffs on vehicles and parts are part of the “Section 232” national security tariffs enacted during the Cold-War that could see tariffs as high as 25% on vehicles and parts from the European Union, South Korea, and Japan.

A delay would likely result in a 6-month extension and allow for negotiators from all sides attempt to reach an agreement.

If you are an importer of car parts or vehicles and want to know what you can do, contact experienced trade attorney David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com, dh@gjatradelaw.com.

US to tax goods from Europe – airplanes, agriculture and industrial products.

October 4, 2019 By in Airbus, European Union, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment
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Earlier this week, President Trump’s administration announced the imposition of tariffs on European goods covering a wide range of goods, from aircraft, to wine, cheese, olive oil and many more items starting October 18th.

The move comes after the World Trade Organization granted the US permission to tax European exports annually to the amount of $7.5 billion in response a US complaint over subsidies given to the European plane manufacturer Airbus. The $7.5 billion in tariffs is annually and continues until an agreement is reached.

The list of goods subject to tariffs will place a 25% tariff on Parmesan cheese, coffee, mussels, single malt whiskeys and other agricultural goods from Europe in addition to a 10% tariff on European aircraft.

If you have any questions how this may impact your business, contact experienced trade and customs attorney David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288, or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com, dh@gjatradelaw.com.

 

 

 

EU to import more US beef.

June 20, 2019 By in beef, European Union, Uncategorized Tags: Leave a comment
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The European Commission reached an agreement with the United States to allow the importation of more hormone-free US beef into the European market, allowing US farmers to import up to 35,000 tons of beef.

Hormone treated beef has been banned in Europe since the 1980’s and in 2002 the proponents of the ban were further strengthened when an EU scientific committee reviewed 17 studies and confirmed the use of hormones as a growth promoter raised the health risk to consumers.

Trump may cancel EU deal and impose 25% duties on European cars.

September 21, 2018 By in European Union, trade war, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

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According to the Express UK website, the French Ambassador to the US warned that President Trump may impose duties on European autos very soon and impose tariffs if talks continue.

The French Ambasssador further claimed the upcoming months will be a crucial time to negotiate a new deal regarding trade. This news is a 180 degree change from July – when President Trump pledged not to impose new tariffs on the EU autos while the two sides were undergoing trade negotiations. Back in August, Trump threatened 25% tariffs on European cars – claiming the taxes are too low on importer cars in the US – thereby hurting American auto manufacturers.

Check back here for all the latest news on whether the administration will impose 25% duties on European autos. For this and other trade related questions, contact David Hsu at 832.896.6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce expected to present results of national security investigation into auto imports in August.

July 28, 2018 By in European Union, Import, Uncategorized Tags: , Leave a comment
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U.S. Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross Official Portrait

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (pictured above), will present his Department’s findings on the national security investigation of auto imports into the US later next month.

The report to President Trump could impact foreign automakers as the results may lead to the importation of new tariffs – up to 25% on imported cars and parts.

Earlier in May, the U.S. Department of Commerce started a “Section 232” investigation to determine whether imports of cars and parts pose a risk to U.S. national security. As you are aware, invoking Section 232 is the same rule Trump used to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum at 25% back in March of this year.

Last week, foreign governments from Japan, Canada and the EU along with US industry groups met with Commerce to express opposition to the investigation. These groups argued higher tariffs would harm American consumers and workers along with the economy. Part of the harm would stem from an estimated increase in price of imported cars by $6,000 and price of domestic built cars by $2,000.

Check back for further news regarding the auto import tariffs as they become available.

Trump claims Harley Davidson using tariffs as an excuse to close US plant and move to Thailand.

June 26, 2018 By in European Union, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment
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Back in April 27th of this year, I wrote on my blog post here that I suspected Harley Davidson was using international trade, tariffs and the US withdraw of the TPP as excuses for two unpopular moves by the company: (1) closing a Missouri factory and (2) moving production to Thailand.

As Harley Davidson is a foreign entity in Thailand, it is not easy for Harley Davidson to just decide to open a factory in Thailand overnight, here’s why you can’t just open a factory overnight –

It takes time and planning, sometimes years of planning – corruption and lack of transparency in government and state agencies, high tariffs on imports (ad valorem tariffs from 50-80% according to export.gov), changes in Thailand’s legal frame work increasing rule of law and consumer protection, higher insurance premiums and a lengthy patent registration process (export.gov claims the patent process may take several years). This doesn’t include the time to find the space, building or retrofiting an existing factory, hiring and training a local work force, working out the logistics to get supplies to the assembly line and then all the permitting, registration and other red tape needed.

Today, July 26, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Harley-Davidson of using trade tensions as an excuse to move production overseas:

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Early this year Harley-Davidson said they would move much of their plant operations in Kansas City to Thailand. That was long before Tariffs were announced. Hence, they were just using Tariffs/Trade War as an excuse. Shows how unbalanced &amp; unfair trade is, but we will fix it…..</p>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=”https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1011568906992017408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js&#8221; charset=”utf-8″></script>

Reuters reported that the plan for the Thailand-made motorcycles would be shipped to the EU to avoid any potential tariffs on US goods. It is estimated the tariffs could cost anywhere from $90 to $100 million per year. The Reuters article also mentioned the move would not result in retail or wholesale price increases in the EU.

Check back for more updates as they become available.

Trump threatens tariffs on imports of European cars.

June 24, 2018 By in Audi, BMW, European Union, Uncategorized Tags: , , , Leave a comment
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According to Bloomberg, the Trump administration threatened a tariff of 20% on cars imported from the European Union if the EU does not remove import duties on U.S. goods.

President Trump tweeted:

“Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. and it great companies and workers by the European Union, if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!” Trump said in a tweet on Friday.

Not mentioned in the Bloomberg article – but some European manufacturers already make vehicles in the US. For example, Mercedes-Benz builds their GLE SUV, GLS SUV, the C-Class and the GLE Coupe in Alabama. BMW builds their X3, X4, X5, X6, and X7 models in South Carolina. Mexico is also host to manufacturing for Audi’s Q5 and VW’s Tiguan and Jetta models.

The EU has already imposed tariffs on $3.3 billion in U.S. goods and would impose further tariffs in the event the U.S. goes through with the import car tariffs.

Further updates will be posted as they become available.

EU will vote to adopt”counter-balancing measures”on June 20th.

June 19, 2018 By in European Union, Uncategorized Tags: , , , Leave a comment
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At the next scheduled European Commission meeting scheduled for today (June 20th), the commission will vote on whether to adopt “counter-balancing measures” against the US.

Last Thursday (June 14th), the European Union countries unanimously endorsed a plan to impose counter trade tariffs against the US covering $3.3 billion worth of US products.

Once the vote is approved, the duties on US goods to the EU should be in place late June or early July.