Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters that if President Donald Trump were to hike tariffs in violation of what was negotiated in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as he threatened to do, it could blow up the treaty. "More tariffs would create more problems," Grassley said April 10, and he noted the steel and aluminum tariffs are already a major obstacle. "The Congress of the United States won’t bring up that agreement until the tariffs are off," he said.
The sole U.S. producer of titanium sponge, TIMET, argued to the Commerce Department that two Japanese companies and TIMET should be given a price advantage and that all other countries' producers should be restricted through quotas or tariffs that are not subject to drawback. TIMET, which failed to win an antidumping case because the International Trade Commission said its production was not in direct competition with imports used by other U.S. processors, is asking for a preference pricing scheme, similar to those used in suspension agreements for antidumping cases.
The Border Trade Alliance is lobbying lawmakers this week for U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement ratification. “While we certainly wish the disruptions at the border weren’t occurring, they have shined a bright light on the importance of cross-border trade to the health of the U.S. economy,” BTA board chair Paola Avila said. The Alliance says the USMCA makes "major and important" upgrades to NAFTA, including in the areas of e-commerce, intellectual property protection and enhanced agricultural access.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's proposal to tariff up to $11 billion worth of goods from the EU as part of a long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies (see 1904090031) adds some new tension to an already fraught trade relationship. Although the trade dispute resolution that the U.S. is asking for pertains to large commercial airplanes, it goes far beyond aerospace, hitting cheeses and other food, wine, clothing and building materials. “This case has been in litigation for 14 years, and the time has come for action. The Administration is preparing to respond immediately when the WTO issues its finding on the value of U.S. countermeasures,” USTR Robert Lighthizer said in a news release.
Peru has decided to maintain the independence of the agency that monitors logging, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced April 9, as that office heralded the success of its environmental consultations (see 1901070023). House Democrats had been concerned that Peru was undermining the agency by moving it into the environment ministry (see 1812190033), and USTR quickly asked for consultations. “We are pleased with Peru’s decision to retain OSINFOR as an independent and separate agency, as required by our bilateral agreement,” USTR Robert Lighthizer said in a statement announcing the change. “This shows that strong enforcement works. I am committed to using enforcement tools to ensure that our trade agreements protect the environment and advance the interests of U.S. workers and businesses.”
The European Union and the U.S. have not formally begun the trade talks first agreed to last July, as the 28-member bloc still does not have a mandate to negotiate. Given that, many observers are doubtful negotiations could make substantial progress this year.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, when asked about the possibility of increased Canadian retaliatory tariffs (see 1903290047) during a conference call with reporters April 9, said he doesn't blame Canada for its coming decision. "Our president is at fault for not taking the tariffs off," he said. He quipped, "They shouldn't put them on any Iowa products because I'm one of their best friends in the United States Senate saying we ought to take those [metals] tariffs off." He said he has been telling the White House for four months that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico have to be lifted before implementing legislation for the new NAFTA arrives on the Hill (see 1902120032). "I don't intend to give up," he said.
Randy Howe, CBP executive director for operations in the Office of Field Operations, testified April 9 that a typical wait exactly a year ago at the El Paso Port of Entry in Texas was 15 minutes for cargo trucks. "Yesterday, wait times were as long as 250 minutes," he said -- more than four hours. "At the end of the day, 63 trucks were not processed."
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., who voted against NAFTA the first time around, told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer "this time needs to be different." Neal, who released a letter he sent to the USTR on April 9, said that persistently low wages in Mexico led to more U.S. manufacturing jobs being moved there, just as he'd seen factories close in New England in the 1970s and 1980s to move to lower wage states and countries.
Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, who defeated a nine-term Republican incumbent last fall, is clear that NAFTA has benefited her district in the Houston area and the whole state of Texas. But Fletcher, who has been chosen as a co-chair of the trade task force in the New Democrats caucus, said she's not being urged by constituents to get NAFTA's replacement ratified as soon as possible.