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US$166bn tariff refund rollout begins 20 April
The United States will begin rolling out a system on 20 April to refund up to US$166 billion (A$254 billion) in tariffs to importers, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a key element of former president Donald Trump’s trade policy. The refund mechanism, known as CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries), has completed primary development and entered intensive testing, according to a court filing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the U.S. Court of International Trade. The agency said the first phase will allow importers to receive consolidated electronic payments, rather than refunds processed shipment by shipment. The rollout follows a February decision by the Supreme Court that found the Trump administration exceeded its authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 1977 law designed for national emergencies, when imposing sweeping global tariffs. The ruling triggered a wave of litigation from importers seeking reimbursement. CBP said that as of 9 April, 56,497 importers had registered for electronic refunds covering about US$127 billion in tariff deposits – around 82% of eligible entries. In total, more than 330,000 importers paid the
Trade
US to add 50% tariffs on countries sending Iran weapons
United States President Donald Trump has said the U.S. will impose tariffs of 50% on countries supplying Iran with weapons. While Russia and China have provided missiles and air defence technology to Iran in the past, both countries have denied sending weapons recently. The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire yesterday. “A Country supplying Military Weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the United States of America, 50%, effective immediately,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “There will be no exclusions or exemptions!” Trump did not specify which nations this would include, or if other forms of military assistance to Iran would qualify a country for these tariffs. Russia has supplied Iran with imagery surveys of military facilities used to strike U.S. targets, according to Ukrainian intelligence. Chinese chipmaker SMIC, which is under U.S. sanctions due to alleged ties to China’s military, has reportedly been sending chip production tools to Iran over the past year. It is also not clear how these tariffs could be imposed. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down all tariffs imposed under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act in February, and other legal tariff measu
Trade
India buys oil from Iran for first time in seven years
India has bought oil and gas from Iran for the first time in seven years. This comes amid supply disruptions due to blockages in the Strait of Hormuz. “Amid Middle East supply disruptions, Indian refiners have secured their crude oil requirements, including from Iran; and there is no payment hurdle for Iranian crude imports, contrary to the rumours being circulated,” the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a post to X. India stopped purchasing oil from Tehran after the United States imposed sanctions on Iranian oil. These sanctions have since been lifted to ease supply shortages. This waiver is expected to remain in place until 19 April. The ministry also said India has secured its full requirements of crude oil for the coming months. India reportedly bought 44,000 metric tons of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas loaded on a sanctioned vehicle. Arpit Chaturvedi, a South Asia advisor at Teneo, told CNBC that India does not intend to take sides in the ongoing U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. There are currently 17 Indian-flagged vessels awaiting safe passage through the strait, and seven have crossed the route in recent weeks following diplomatic engagement with Tehran. According to the Times of Ind
Trade
How tariffs quietly intensified China's trade dominance
The working assumption in Washington and on Wall Street is that tariffs are slowly weaning the world's production networks off Chinese factories. Yet McKinsey Global Institute's latest trade report - covering more than 90% of global goods flows - says otherwise. It shows that U.S.-China bilateral trade fell ~30% in 2025, with $130 billion in Chinese exports evaporating under tariff rates that peaked at 137% in April. American importers scrambled and found alternative suppliers, swapping out about two-thirds of what they'd been buying from China with shipments from ASEAN and India. Global trade, far from collapsing, grew 6.5% and outpaced GDP. None of these things changes the underlying shift in what China actually sells to the world. So how come Chinese exports of intermediate goods - the components, materials and semi-finished products that other countries need to make things - expanded 9% in 2025, up from 6% the year prior? Intermediate goods climbed to 47.4% of China's total exports in the first three quarters, up from 41.7% in 2017, according to Chinese customs data, and accounted for just over 40% of worldwide exports in this segment at the start of 2025. Beijing's manufacturers contributed close to 50
Trade
Chinese manufacturers warn of price hikes due to Iran war
Chinese suppliers have warned that they will hike up prices for Americans due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The war in the Middle East has stalled all shipments of oil and other products shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns among Chinese manufacturers about further disruption across the global supply chain. Pickleball paddle producer Devi Wei told CNBC, “Americans will need to pay more,” at a Beijing trade show last week at the China International Exhibition Center. Wei, who founded his own exporting business, Huijin Trade, said he would need to hike the prices on his paddles and pickleballs by as much as 20% because of the recent swings in oil prices created by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “I might have to go even higher,” Wei said. “Maybe double if the Iran war doesn’t stop soon.” Wei’s products are made with polypropylene, a plastic material derived from oil and made in the Middle East. Surging oil prices are filtering into the prices of all kinds of products that rely on the commodity for manufacturing. In the medical industry, Pang Li, sales manager at a Shanghai-based medical catheter maker, spent days urging United States buyers to lock in orders before her company

Trade
EU-US trade deal moves ahead with safeguards
The European Parliament has voted to advance legislation implementing the European Union’s side of a transatlantic trade agreement with the United States, adding legal safeguards amid persistent concerns over Washington’s tariff policy under Donald Trump. Lawmakers on Thursday backed the measure by 417 votes to 154, with 71 abstentions, incorporating provisions that would allow the EU to suspend or condition tariff concessions if the U.S. fails to comply with the deal struck in Turnberry, Scotland, in July 2025. The vote marks a procedural step rather than final approval, with negotiations between Parliament and EU member states due to begin on 13 April ahead of a final vote expected no earlier than June. The legislation underpins a broader EU-U.S. agreement designed to stabilise trade relations after a period of escalating tariff threats. It would eliminate most EU import duties on U.S. industrial goods, expand access for U.S. agricultural exports, and extend zero tariffs on U.S. lobsters first agreed in 2020. In return, U.S. tariffs would remain capped at 15% on most EU exports - an asymmetry that has drawn criticism from European lawmakers. According to Eurostat data, the U.S. remains the EU’s largest trading
Trade
Lawsuit targets Trump’s 10% global tariff plan
A coalition comprising over 20 U.S. states is seeking court action to block President Donald Trump’s latest global tariffs, arguing that the White House is attempting to side-step a recent Supreme Court ruling that invalidates most of the administration’s earlier import duties. The lawsuit, filed last Thursday in the U.S. Court of International Trade by 22 states and two Democratic governors, seeks to halt a 10% global tariff imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and to secure refunds for duties already collected. The legal challenge comes less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a sweeping set of tariffs Trump imposed last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Underpinning the dispute are doubts over whether the president can rely on Section 122 - an emergency trade provision never previously been used to impose tariffs - to revive a key element of his trade policy after the court tossed out the earlier framework. The statute allows the president to levy tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days to address what the law describes as “fundamental international payments problems”. The Trump administration imposed the new 10% global tariff four days after t
Trade
Bessent: Trump's 15% tariffs will start this week
New 15% tariffs are expected to kick in this week, says United States Treasurer Scott Bessent. These new global trade tariffs were promised to be at a flat 15%, but then came into effect at 10% last week instead. Now, in a recent interview with CNBC Squawk Box, Bessent has promised that it will be rectified this week He told the outlet that tariff rates under the Trump administration would be working their way back to similar levels of last year, before the Supreme Court blocked them recently, starting with the 15% this week. “It’s my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months…they have survived more than 4,000 legal challenges,” he said. “They are more slow-moving, but they are more robust.”
Trade
New Trump tariffs come into effect, lower than expected
New Trump administration tariffs have kicked in at the lower than expected rate of 10%. The United States President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would be introducing broad new tariffs at a rate of 15%, after stating the day before that it would be 10%. This came after his attempts at mass import taxes were blocked by the Supreme Court, in a majority ruling, stating that he could not “point to clear congressional authorization”. However, an executive order was signed the same day by Trump for 10% rate global tariffs, and the White House is now reportedly working to increase that to the 15% change he announced the day after. These are operating under a section of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows the president to make the charge without congressional approval for 150 days.