The Aluminum Association is pleased by the hike in Section 301 tariffs on aluminum products -- even though it applies to more products than it wishes were covered -- and says Mexico's reporting is helping with trade remedies covering Chinese, Russian and Belarussian steel.

Donald Trump, in a lengthy interview with Bloomberg's editor-in-chief, tripled down on his tariff policy, calling the word tariff "the most beautiful word in the dictionary," and saying that his plan of a 10% tariff on all non-Chinese imports is not nearly enough to reverse factory closures.

Senators criticized both Congress and the administration's lack of action to use lower tariffs to build relationships in the developing world, at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on strategic competition with China. The hearing, which was meant to focus on China's influence in Africa, Latin America and Europe, and what the U.S. could do to counter it, was held July 30.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, has said that former President Donald Trump's tariff policy was a "trade tax that has resulted in American families spending as much as $1.4 billion more on everything from shampoo to washing machines."

A union request that the government impose a fee on Chinese-made vessels docking at U.S. ports via a Section 301 action confronting subsidization in China's shipbuilding sector (see 2404170029) was mentioned favorably by Democrats and Republicans at a House Select Committee on China hearing that covered Chinese efforts in that sector, semiconductors and drones.

The gaps in trade policies between the U.S. and Europe, despite their agreement on the problems, and the difficulty of improving trade relations with major developing countries were grappled with this week by a panel of experts from the U.S. and Europe.

Barely more than half of the pharmaceuticals' value consumed in the U.S. is domestically produced, but re-shoring is not the answer to vulnerabilities in the supply chains for drugs or medical equipment, panelists said at a think tank event.

The auto industry welcomes the pre-emptive tariff on Chinese electric vehicles -- it is going from 27.5% to 102.5% Aug. 1 -- but says that higher Section 301 tariffs on lithium-ion batteries and the minerals used to make those batteries work are counterproductive to the goal of helping automakers catch up to China's head start.

American, German and British environmental and trade politics experts agreed at an American-German Institute event on "Squaring the Transatlantic Circle" on climate policy that although it seems like Western Europe and the U.S. should be united on goals and interests, their economic competition and even pride stand in the way.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Senate appropriators that a proposed rule on connected vehicles should come out in the fall.