The 50 percent duties on Canadian goods were suspended for three days, and the document that did it records a commitment rather than an agreement

Three days.

That is the whole of what the President granted on 18 August. A proclamation signed that day suspends the additional duties imposed on certain Canadian goods in Proclamations 11046, 11047 and 11048, all signed 20 July, and it does so by the narrowest mechanism available: it deletes the effective date of 19 August from the chapeau of Annex II in each of the three and writes in 22 August. The rate is untouched. The product lists are untouched. The duties now attach at one minute past midnight eastern time on Saturday.

The three underlying proclamations were published on 23 July at 91 FR 46639, 46653 and 46663, and they cover alcoholic beverages, dairy, and motor vehicles in that order. Each imposes an additional ad valorem duty of 50 percent on the goods listed in its own Annex II. Each rests on Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which permits additional duties of up to 50 percent where the President finds a foreign country is discriminating against United States commerce, requires at least 30 days between the finding and the effect, and separately allows the President to suspend a Section 338 proclamation whenever the public interests require it. That last power is the one used here.

What the document says was agreed

Nothing, in terms.

Paragraph 4 is the only place the proclamation describes the state of play, and it is written at two removes. Senior executive branch officials provided information, opinions and recommendations on the status of negotiations. According to those officials, Canada has expressed a commitment to remove the discriminations at issue. In those officials' opinion, the public interests favour a three day suspension. The President then determines that they do.

There is no agreement text, no Canadian signature, no schedule, and no description of what Canada would remove or by when. A commitment reported by officials is not the same document as a settlement, and the proclamation is careful about the difference even where the surrounding coverage has not been.

The mechanics importers will feel

Agency heads are directed to begin taking steps immediately and to suspend collection of the additional duties as soon as practicable. Where duties have already been collected, refunds are to be processed under Customs and Border Protection's standard procedures. CBP, in consultation with Treasury, Commerce, the United States Trade Representative and the Chairman of the International Trade Commission, is to decide whether further changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule are needed and to make them by notice in the Federal Register.

Two carve outs from the July proclamations survive the suspension because it does not touch them. The duties do not apply to articles already subject to Section 232 duties, which prevents stacking, and they do not apply to articles covered by the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, with unmanned aircraft excluded from that exception.

This publication covered the original three proclamations on 21 July. The item that has changed since is one date, and it expires on Saturday.