The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee said most in Congress believe “Trump is right to hold China accountable for fundamental rights in Hong Kong,” but declined to say what should be done if that action leads to a breakdown in the phase one trade deal with China. China has already stopped some purchases of soybeans, but has not officially declared it will cease purchases of U.S.-grown commodities.
The president of the American Automotive Policy Council, former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, said the release of the uniform regulations in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement was so recent that it's too early “to give a definitive view of what needs to be clarified,” or is missing. But he said one of the really important asks of the automotive industry was granted -- an acknowledgement that importers and exporters would need the rest of the year to be ready for full compliance.
Panelists talking about the future of the World Trade Organization are picturing a world in which the U.S. and China continue to argue about the issues of industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises while other countries ally at the WTO to work on notifications, a binding dispute settlement process and how to share a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus around the globe.
Rep. Ron Kind, one of the leading pro-trade voices in the Democratic caucus, told the Washington International Trade Association that Trade Promotion Authority will not get a renewal vote this year. The legislation, which allows fast-track approval of trade agreements, is good through June 30, 2021. “That might be a reach too far, here in this election cycle,” he said in an online interview with WITA on June 3. “I think we’ll have to wait and see how the dust settles in November.”
A Mexican federal official, along with Mexican and U.S. attorneys, believe that Mexican firms will have to sharply change their labor relations policies, but they aren't as sure about how often labor issues will be brought up, in the context of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. If the U.S. government doesn't agree that a Mexican company has come into compliance with Mexican labor laws, it could lead to goods from that producer being barred from USMCA tariff benefits.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said some farmers he spoke to in his home state of Iowa told him they're concerned about trade with China. Grassley told such questioners he's not worried about the trade agreement.
Even as COVID-19 delays some advances in trade facilitation -- such as being able to use a single window to export into Canada -- the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement has good news for it, panelists said during a Dickinson Wright webinar May 28.
President Donald Trump said the administration will begin the process of revoking Hong Kong's special status, including the fact that it's treated more leniently than China with regard to “export controls on dual-use technologies, with few exceptions.” He said Hong Kong would no longer be treated as a separate customs territory, but gave no details during a May 29 press conference about how long it would be until the changes take effect.
President Donald Trump said that the administration will begin the process of revoking Hong Kong's differential treatment from China, including its more lenient "export controls on dual-use technologies, with few exceptions."
At a time that the World Trade Organization is under stress -- its appellate body disbanded, and its director general quitting before his term is up -- member countries are also resisting moving proceedings online. Nigel Cory, associate director of trade policy for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said other groups have “shifted these critical high-level meetings online,” but the WTO canceled its June ministerial meeting. Cory said that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is negotiating online on the matter of digital taxes, so it is showing it can be done.