Technical fixes for USMCA, including the restoration of merchandise processing fee refunds for post-entry filings, are part of the end-of-year legislative package expected to pass later today, a Senate Finance Committee spokesman said.
Customs brokers, after many years of lobbying (see 09021315), won a change to the treatment of duties transferred to them by importers that later go bankrupt. The brokers had argued that these duties should not be subject to clawback provisions under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, where payments to vendors within 90 days can be seized by the bankruptcy courts for redistribution.
The Ottawa Group, which includes the European Union, Japan, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, Canada and others, is arguing that a coordinated global response is needed to COVID-19, including cooperating on vaccine distribution, and trade in other medical supplies, and says regulatory compatibility on these goods should be improved so that the world will be ready for the next pandemic.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a co-sponsor of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, told International Trade Today that he doesn't expect the Senate to vote on the bill as part of the year-end legislative package.
Sen. Rob Portman, a former U.S. trade representative, said he's glad House Ways and Means Committee chief trade counsel Katherine Tai is the nominee for his old job, because he thinks “that will help with moving an agenda forward vis a vis Congress.” Portman was one of eight former USTRs speaking on a webinar Dec. 17 hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
A small deal that would restore India's Generalized System of Preferences benefits is something that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal have made headway on, Lighthizer said while speaking to the Confederation of Indian Industry. “My guess is we are not far away from a deal like that. Keep in mind, obviously, we have a political change going on over here and that’s going to be a bit of a setback, certainly, to the extent that I can facilitate that, which I would be happy to do it, but there is going to be some changes and my guess is that is going to slow things up,” he said Dec. 16 during an online interview.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told International Trade Today that lawmakers are still working on renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program. “GSP's a little bit stickier,” he said, adding that the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill and GSP both “seem to be stalled.”
Tomas Baert, head of trade and agriculture at the European delegation in Washington, said the European Union is looking for a “strong and united front with the United States” on trade as the region and the world recover from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Baert, who was speaking on a webinar Dec. 15 hosted by the European American Chamber of Commerce, said that while the Trump era was marked with “turbulence and tension” in trade, Europe feels like it escaped mostly unharmed, since there were not “massive tariffs” imposed on exported cars, trucks and auto parts, as was threatened.
The Border Trade Alliance wants the USMCA “technical corrections” fix to leave the treatment of foreign-trade zones out, it said. BTA said it opposes the change “that would prevent goods manufactured within an FTZ from receiving reduced or duty-free treatment” under the agreement that replaced NAFTA and took effect July 1. “USMCA is a trade agreement for the 21st century, but reinstating an old NAFTA-era rule turns back the clock on U.S. manufacturing competitiveness,” BTA Chair Sergio Contreras said. “In keeping with the goal of modernizing U.S. trade policy under USMCA, products produced within FTZs should qualify for duty-free treatment.” The group thanked the six senators who publicly said they oppose the inclusion of FTZ rule of origin changes in a technical fixes bill.
A new report summarizing town halls convened by Farmers for Free Trade says the elimination of the steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico “went a long way toward stabilizing these export markets,” and that grain prices have recovered, but that more free trade deals are critical to support farmers and rural economies. The report, released Dec. 15, was highlighted in a webinar.