The Central America-Dominican Republic Apparel and Textile Council says that while job growth in its industry is "an important part of any solution addressing the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States," it disagrees with some critics of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), who note that exports have not grown since the trade agreement has been in effect, and says a looser apparel rule of origin is needed (see 2104140047 and 2107210039).
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a readout of her call with Ethiopia's chief trade negotiator that she told Mamo Mihretu that if the conflict in northern Ethiopia is not resolved, it could affect Ethiopia's eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade preferences program. She said the conflict has created a humanitarian crisis and said there are "ongoing violations of internationally recognized human rights."
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a brief on fentanyl smuggling, noting that the mail and express shipping routes that had been common sources of the opiate have declined as smuggling across the Mexican border has increased. The commission said that while most fentanyl and precursor chemicals to make fentanyl are still coming from China, the manufacturing is happening more often in India and Mexico since China agreed to make fentanyl a more tightly regulated product back in 2019. "China’s weak supervision and regulation of its chemical and pharmaceutical industry also enable evasion and circumvention," the brief said.
A proposal to use a carbon border adjustment tax as a pay-for in legislation Congress hopes to pass this fall faces many obstacles, both political and technical. Politically, it must get support from all 50 Democrats in the Senate, including Sen. Joe Manchin, whose home state of West Virginia exports about a third of its coal; in some recent years, coal was about half of all exports from the state.
After Mexico asked it for consultations (see 2108230041), arguing that the NAFTA approach to roll-up should be continued under USCMA, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the request is under review. USTR spokesman Adam Hodge said that U.S. government officials "remain committed to fully implementing the USMCA, including the strong auto regional content requirements to which we all agreed.”
There have been no productive discussions in the last month between Republican and Democratic trade staffers to find a compromise on renewing the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in response to a question from International Trade Today during a telephone press conference. "Regrettably, I see further delays in that because the speaker [of the House] and all her committees are focused on jamming through these tax hikes and welfare expansion," Brady said, referring to Democrats' legislative priorities. Brady said that while the Senate's Trade Act of 2021 is the framework for a bipartisan solution to GSP and MTB renewal, "we need time on task to do that," and he doesn't know if there will be conversations working toward that.
After the sudden death of Richard Trumka, Liz Shuler was elected president of the AFL-CIO, the federation of unions announced Aug. 20. Shuler is the first woman to lead the AFL-CIO. Shuler started as an organizer at Electrical Workers (IBEW), and worked at that union's political/legislative affairs department in Washington, D.C., before becoming secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO.
Less than two weeks after the U.S. and Mexico announced a resolution to a Rapid Response Mechanism complaint over labor violations at a General Motors plant in Mexico (see 2107090019), the second vote at the plant in Silao resulted in a rejection of the protection union. The complaint was brought because that same protection union did ballot-stuffing and intimidated workers during the first vote, advocates said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, in a speech in Singapore, said that Singapore's government is beginning a dialogue "on how our two countries can better work together to strengthen supply chain resiliency in this region." Harris said that the pandemic revealed the vulnerability of supply chains for protective gear and for semiconductor chips. "You just ask anybody who's thinking about trying to buy a new car or a used car, and it is more difficult than it has been in a long time because, of course, supply chain issues impact production lines and impact goods getting to market," she said. "I will be meeting with key business leaders here in Singapore to discuss what more we can do together in this region of the world, with private and public sectors, including our own in the United States, to shore up supply lines and supply chains."
The Mexican government has asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for formal consultations under USMCA's dispute resolution process over a disagreement on how the auto rules of origin should work. Mexico says that when it agreed to a 75% regional value content standard at the end of the phase-in period, its negotiators were assuming that once a part is considered originating, its value should count as North American as you move to assemblies, and ultimately, to the vehicle as a whole. So, Mexico says that in the text on the rules of origin, if a core part is originating, its full value is counted in a super-core part, such as an engine, and if that engine is originating, its value counts in the RVC for the vehicle as a whole.