During a hearing that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said was designed to test President Donald Trump's claim that the phase one agreement with China is a “tremendous win for the American people,” most of what was revealed was that Democrats are skeptical of the purchase promises and likelihood of success of further negotiations, and Republicans admire Trump's confrontation of China.
Six Democratic senators recently sent a letter that calls for suspending Generalized System of Preferences program benefits if labor rights violations are found in the Philippines. The senators also oppose a free trade agreement with the Philippines. This letter, sent Feb. 11, follows a letter from House Democrats in 2018 that also argued that the Philippines is not the right target for a free trade deal, given the human rights violations there (see: 1809050040). “We are gravely concerned that our trade policy could be mistaken for condoning the labor and human rights violations perpetrated by President Duterte,” wrote Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Bob Casey, D-Pa. They asked for an out-of-cycle review for GSP eligibility over human rights and labor rights, and for a quick suspension from the program if violations are substantiated.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't expect the U.S. to negotiate over the tariffs it has put on European goods like Airbus planes, Scotch whiskey, French wine, and Spanish wine and olive oil until the World Trade Organization rules on Boeing subsidies. Currently, there are 10% tariffs on Airbus planes and 25% tariffs on the wine, liquor and food items; the aircraft tariff is set to climb to 15% on March 18. The Boeing ruling is not expected for several months.
A pro-free trade think tank in Canada published an analysis of the new NAFTA, known as CUSMA in Canada, and finds it lacking. “CUSMA has little traditional tariff liberalization, introducing only minor changes to market access compared to the NAFTA, and limited improvements in trade facilitation, while at the same time introducing a number of features that promise to be more restrictive of trade,” wrote the authors of the C.D. Howe Institute paper.
While a small deal could be announced during President Donald Trump's trip early next week to India, senior White House officials say that will be purchase announcements, not a full or partial restoration of India to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program. While they declined to go into specifics on what the sticking points have been in talks on improving market access, they noted that the complaints of U.S. exporters are well known.
A restoration of India to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program that's been under negotiation for more than six months (see 1909060029) is unlikely to be announced during President Donald Trump's trip to India next week, the U.S.-India Business Council said Feb. 20. Nisha Biswal, president of the USIBC, said on a conference call with reporters, “It does look at this juncture that we may not have a trade agreement as part of the president’s visit … which is of course a disappointment to our members.”
A bipartisan group of 19 senators, led by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., are asking the U.S. trade representative to get a deal done with the United Kingdom before the U.K. reaches its agreement with the European Union. The letter, made public Feb. 18, says the U.K. “has the greatest freedom of action now,” and getting a comprehensive agreement before the EU agreement will give the U.S. “the best possible chance of earning new access to U.K. markets.” They urged that the deal not be limited to a few sectors, and that he follow Congress's fast track negotiating objective.
The Canadian Parliament is moving the successor to NAFTA along, so that a March ratification vote is still looking likely, news from Canada says. While the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will be reviewed by the agriculture, natural resources and industry/science/technology committees, not just the trade committee, the other committees only have until Feb. 25 for that review, a report from ipolitics said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't think the Trump administration will ever levy an additional 25% tax on imported autos, even as President Donald Trump continues to mention that threat in an effort to get European negotiators to open up to American agriculture exports. Grassley, who was responding to a reporter's question on how to get the European Union to bend during a conference call Feb. 18, said he doesn't think the EU will negotiate much on ag.
The House of Representatives passed a bill that would require CBP to develop a plan “to increase CBP’s non-intrusive-inspection scanning rates to 100% of commercial and passenger vehicles at all land ports of entry that includes incremental timeframes and estimated costs by port.” The bill, called the Securing America's Ports Act, passed on a voice vote Feb. 10. It does not have a Senate companion bill, and the Senate has been passing next to no legislation in this session, instead concentrating its energy on appointing judges.