Cross Border Trade Updates
May 5, 2025
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- U.S. Tariff Negotiations
- On 4 May, President Trump suggested that his administration could strike trade deals with some countries as soon as this week. As trade deals are still being negotiated, it is unclear how packaging and processing machinery imports into the United States by PMMI members will be affected. Below is the latest news on trade negotiations.
- On 29 April, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the Trump Administration reached its first trade deal, but said it was not finalized and declined to name the country.
- Australia: On 5 May, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday he had a “warm conversation” with US President Donald Trump on tariffs.
- Brazil: On 5 May, Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said Brazil and the U.S. are negotiating the terms of an understanding on tariffs.
- Taiwan: On 3 May, Taiwan's government said that it had concluded its first round of "substantive" tariff talks with the United States, describing the atmosphere as frank and cordial.
- China: On 2 May, China said it is currently assessing proposals by the United States to start trade talks.
- Japan: On 2 May, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that U.S. and Japanese officials agreed to start immediate working-level consultations after “frank and constructive” trade talks in Washington last week.
- Canada: On 2 May, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he will meet Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday in an effort to revive a crucial trading relationship with the US that the Canadian prime minister recently described as “over”.
- EU: On 1 May, Maroš Šefčovič, the European Union’s trade commissioner said in an interview that the bloc is making “certain progress” toward a trade deal with the United States, which would involve buying €50 billion more of U.S. products.
- India: On 30 April, the White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said that the trade deal with India is “close”.
- President Trump Issues Executive Order on Tariff Stackability
- On April 29, the Trump Administration published an Executive Order (EO) clarifying which tariffs are subject to a cumulative effect (i.e., which tariffs “stack” on top of one another) for steel and aluminum products from Canada or Mexico.
- 25% IEEPA fentanyl/immigration tariffs on non-USMCA compliant imports are not subject to Section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel. In other words, there is no stacking of Section 232 tariffs on top of IEEPA tariffs for imports that are not USMCA compliant from CA or MX. As a reminder, PMMI machinery of HS headings 8422 and 8438 are not subject to Section 232 tariffs. As a reminder, PMMI machinery of HS headings 8422 and 8438 are not subject to Section 232 tariffs. However, some components, materials, parts sourced from Canada or Mexico may be subject to Section 232 tariffs.
- 25% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum -- which are applied only on the value of non-U.S. steel and aluminum content -- may be subject to both aluminum and steel tariffs. This depends on whether the product’s tariff codes are in-scope for both Section 232 lists and could impact food packaging machinery and inputs imported by PMMI members.
- Reciprocal tariffs: if the import is not a product of Mexico or Canada and is not subject to Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, then the import is subject to reciprocal tariffs unless exceptions apply (e.g., Annex II).
- The exemption for Section 232 tariffs on non-USMCA compliant steel and aluminum imports is retroactive to March 4 and importers will be able to receive a refund “processed pursuant to applicable laws and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s standard procedures for such refunds”.
- U.S.-China Trade
- On 5 May, President Donald Trump said tariffs on Chinese imports to the United States will eventually be lowered, after both Beijing and Washington appeared to soften their positions about potential trade talks. As President Trump did not indicate when tariffs would be lowered, it is unclear how this would impact PMMI members.
- On 2 May, the Trump Administration ended a loophole called the de minimis rule, which allowed products up to $800 to avoid tariffs as long as they were shipped directly to U.S. consumers or small businesses.
- On 30 April, it was reported that China created a list of U.S.-made products that would be exempt from its 125% tariffs. As the list has not become publicly available, it is unclear how this would impact PMMI members.
- Legal Actions Against Trump’s Tariffs
- On 30 April, the Senate rejected an effort to undo President Trump’s tariffs on most U.S. trading partners.
- The vote deadlocked at 49 to 49, meaning it failed despite three Republicans joining Democrats in favor of a measure that sought to terminate the national emergency declaration President Trump used last month to impose 10 percent reciprocal tariffs.
- Actions at the World Trade Organization (WTO)
- On 5 May, the United States declined to allow the EU to join a dispute brought by Canada over the Trump Administration’s increased tariffs on steel and aluminum.
