Deadlines, Courts, & a Hike – Tariffs & Trade Deal News Roundup

Draft Letter Reveals Trump Admin is Calling for Best Trade Offers by Wednesday

Give your best offer by Wednesday. It’s a new deadline the Trump Administration is putting on countries its currently engaged with in trade talks, according to an apparently leaked United States Trade Representative (USTR) draft letter Reuters managed to see.

The administration is looking to accelerate trade talks, likely wanting to get deals completed before the 90-day pause on Liberation Day reciprocal tariffs comes to an end on July 8th.

The Business Standard shared the following about the draft letter:

In the draft, the US is asking countries to list their best proposals in a number of key areas, including tariff and quota offers for purchase of US industrial and agricultural products and plans to remedy any non-tariff barriers.

Other requested items include any commitments on digital trade and economic security, along with country-specific commitments, according to the letter.

The US will evaluate the responses within days and offer “a possible landing zone” that could include a reciprocal tariff rate, according to the letter.

If the actual letter from draft went out wide to trade partners around the world, there could be several big headlines about trade deals over the next few weeks. If the deadline succeeds in accelerate trade deals, shippers will likely be happy to see a higher level of predictability and stability for international trade, particularly pertaining to tariffs.

Judge Dismisses California Lawsuit Over Trump Tariffs

When first blogging about the Court of International Trade hearing a lawsuit from 12 states against President Trump’s tariffs, I mentioned California’s separate case against the tariffs that was happening in Sacramento. While the Court of International Trade in New York ruled in the states’ favor, the federal court in Sacramento ruled in Trump’s favor, dismissing California’s case.

Dustin Gardiner reports in Politico:

A U.S. District Court judge on Monday dismissed California officials’ lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, concluding the case belongs in an out-of-state court that specializes in trade disputes.

Despite this being a win for President Trump, there’s also a win in the story for the state. The judge granted California’s request for a dismissal rather than transferring the case to the court she found to have the proper jurisdiction, creating an advantage for California in the appeals process, as Gardiner explains:

But Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley dismissed the case outright rather than immediately transfer it to the trade court, as Trump’s attorneys had requested. By doing so, she granted the state’s request to leave a path open for California to appeal the ruling to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a famously liberal-leaning bench.

A liberal leaning court in California? Shocking.

Just as the Trump Administration immediately appealed the court decisions that went against the president last week, the state of California immediately appealed the decision that went against it this week. And its appeal will be in the court where it has the best chance of winning.

Maybe the ruling didn’t go in President Trump’s favor.

Of course, if California wins in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, expect another appeal…

Quick Hit: Trump Upping Steel Tariff to 50%

On Friday, President Trump announced he would double his tariff on steel from 25% to 50%.

The president’s steel and aluminum tariffs are not the ones that have been under fire in court over the last couple weeks.