A series of readouts from U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai after Feb. 23 meetings with German officials emphasized how the European Union and the U.S. need to work together to confront "global trade challenges, including those presented by non-market economies." Tai met with Germany's federal minister for economic affairs and climate action, Germany's state secretary for international and EU affairs and the state secretary of the federal foreign office. She said she also spoke about the need to develop resilient supply chains. Tai also met with the leaders of the Transatlantic Business Initiative on Feb 23, and she and the group "agreed that transatlantic trade policy should reflect and promote our common values, including those that support workers and the environment," according to a USTR readout.
The European Commission published a 69-page directive that is meant to be the foundation for European Union legislation requiring that large companies implement due diligence on environmental and social costs in their supply chains. The European Parliament and European Council will vote on the proposal, and if it is adopted, EU countries will have two years to write national laws to implement it.
Sanctions, rather than additional tariffs, are the most likely result of political pressure to not look soft on China, Bank of America analysts Ethan Harris and Aditya Bhave predicted. The two wrote in a Feb. 18 note that it's not surprising that China did not purchase the volume of U.S. exports it promised, but "what's unusual is the lack of follow-through from either side so far, other than empty rhetoric."
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking Canada to "abandon any plans" for a digital services tax while countries continue to negotiate international taxation principles, including how to tax companies that derive revenues from a country's population but do not have a physical nexus there.
In preparation for considering the renewal of trade preference programs for Haiti, House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal asked the International Trade Commission to study the role of the preferences programs in shaping Haiti's economy. The ITC has 10 months to produce the report.
Five senators, led by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., they strongly support the House version of the trade title, the America Competes Act, over the Senate version, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, that all five voted yes on. "Investments in domestic production ... must be paired with pro-worker, pro-environment trade provisions to give American businesses and workers a fighting chance to compete against non-market economies, such as China, that are rigging the rules in their favor and denying our companies and our workers the only thing they need -- a fair shot," the Feb. 16 letter said. Also signing were fellow Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ohio; Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts; Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island; and Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut. "The COMPETES Act trade title is directly focused on tackling competitiveness issues related to trade with China, including funding for adjustment assistance for workers, environmental safeguards against chronic pollution from foreign production and bipartisan proposals addressing trade enforcement and security issues."
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill that would eliminate the 14.75% tariff on imported solar panels. Rosen said in a press release announcing the bill, "Solar tariffs are hurting America’s clean energy economy by raising prices for American families and costing us jobs in this key industry, while failing to incentivize domestic manufacturing." She said the U.S. has one of the highest prices for solar panels globally. Moran said, "We should be working to bolster domestic solar manufacturing capabilities in ways that don’t stifle American solar deployment, raise energy prices for consumers or lessen job opportunities for American workers.”
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., co-sponsor of the Endless Frontiers Act that was rolled up into a larger China competition package, said during a Bipartisan Policy Center program broadcast Feb. 18, "I think we’re poised to … have a genuine sit-down conference." There has been talk in the Capitol that there would be a negotiating process led by the leaders of the Republican and Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate, and that while committee chairs would have a say on the sections of the bills under their jurisdiction, there would not be a formal conference committee, whose discussions would be open to the public (see 2202020055). "That is the most methodical, I think, responsible process, and collaborative process," he added.
Arent Fox lawyers said a disclosure bill aimed at large fashion retailers and manufacturers may not pass in the New York statehouse, but it's making lots of people in the industry nervous (see 2201200046). "Even if this bill doesn't pass, there's going to be others in the future," Angela Santos said.
The Coalition for Metal Manufacturers and Users is arguing that tariff rate quotas on raw materials "lead to market manipulations and allow for gaming of the system that puts this country’s smallest manufacturers at an even further disadvantage," and said "some steel products’ quota filled up for the year in the first two weeks of January."