Trade Tidbits – October 3, 2025

News from the Rest of the World

• Australia: Trade Minister Don Farrell said his country supports a push to crack down on EV overcapacity.
• Brazil: The U.S. and Brazil (per Firefox’s translate feature) are working towards a meeting between Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump, but a location is proving elusive due to their travel schedules. The upcoming ASEAN summit in Malaysia on October 26 might fit the bill.
• Cambodia: A bipartisan Congressional delegation visited Cambodia last week.
• Canada: When asked about the status of talks on Section 232 tariffs, Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters, “We’re making progress. We’re not there yet.” He added that Section 232 talks will remain separate from the USMCA review. USTR Jamieson Greer told a group that the USMCA review would be more bilateral than trilateral due to specific issues with each individual country. Energy Minister Tim Hodgson released a statement decrying the Section 232 lumber tariffs.
• China: President Trump truthed that China isn’t buying U.S. soybeans for “‘negotiating’ reasons” and that soybeans would be a “major topic of discussion” in four weeks when he meets with President Xi Jinping. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects a “pretty big breakthrough” in the next round of U.S.-China talks. He added, “It’s unfortunate the Chinese leadership has decided to use the American farmers, soybean farmers, in particular, as a hostage or pawn in the trade negotiations.” USTR Greer told a group that 55% tariffs on China are a “good status quo.” He also said said China “overplayed their hand” on rare earth magnets because they impacted the whole world, adding that G7 counterparts “didn’t complain to me about the president’s tariffs. They complained about the Chinese controls on rare earth magnets.”
• The EU: The EU is circulating a draft proposal to raise steel tariffs to 50% and cut steel import quotas in half.
• India: Russian oil imports fell from 1.72 million barrels/day in August to 1.61 million barrels/day in September. An anonymous government source told local media that talks with the U.S. are continuing virtually.
• Malaysia: The government released a 15-point plan to address steel overcapacity and decarbonization. The local furniture industry is asking the government for aid in the wake of the Section 232 lumber tariff announcement.
• Mexico: USTR Greer told a group that the USMCA review would be more bilateral than trilateral due to specific issues with each individual country.
• New Zealand: Lumber producers warned of “significant financial repercussions” of the Section 232 lumber tariffs, while others breathed a sigh of relief because they thought it’d be worse. Trade Minister Todd McClay warned against foreign film tariffs, telling press, “They’ll never touch our precioussss” “Films are still going to be made here out
  of the US, respective of what happens there.”
• South Korea: The Ministry of Economy and Finance and Treasury Department held foreign exchange talks, agreeing to the public disclosure of reserves data, forward positions, and currency composition of reserves. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo told a forum that the government is stressing to the U.S. that South Korea cannot agree to the same investment plan as Japan.
• Taiwan: Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun led a delegation to the U.S. for talks from September 25-29. She said her side is evaluating credit guarantees for companies expanding U.S. investment as part of negotiations. They would need land, visa, and regulatory help from the U.S. She also told reporters that they will not agree to a deal in which 50% of chip production is in the U.S.
• The UK: New Section 232 tariff announcements are poking/could poke holes in the U.S.-UK deal. The U.S. is weighing easing tariffs on Scotch.