Following reports that President-Elect Joe Biden will be nominating House Ways and Means Chief Trade Counsel Katherine Tai for U.S. Trade Representative, Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer hailed the decision.“This is a fantastic pick from President-elect Biden. Katherine Tai has played an invaluable role leading the Ways and Means staff while working with members and outside groups on the renegotiated NAFTA and other critical trade issues," said Blumenauer. "She’s knowledgeable, patient, creative, and will be the first woman of color to hold this important job."
The U.S. and Ecuador signed a phase one trade agreement that goes beyond the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement with requirements for online publication of customs information and customs brokers requirements; duties and fees; electronic submission of customs declaration and phytosanitary certificates; a single window for import and export; and advanced rulings that cover classification, valuation, origin, and application of quotas. Ecuador also agreed to no penalties on minor errors, unless they're part of a consistent pattern, and a procedure to correct errors without penalties.
Claims that a ban on single-use plastics is a trade restriction prohibited in the USMCA are wrong, seven Democratic senators, led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canada Trade Minister Mary Ng. The senators' Dec. 7 letter said the industry groups incorrectly argue the ban “would not be based on sound science. In fact, the science clearly shows the detrimental impact of single-use plastics. An estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the oceans each year.”
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced a bill that would add eligibility requirements to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, including whether the country either has established, or is making continual progress toward establishing, “the rule of law, political pluralism, the right to due process, a fair trial and equal protection under the law,” and whether those countries are working to “reduce poverty, increase the availability of health care and educational opportunities,” among other goals, including combating corruption. It also would predicate eligibility on whether a country effectively enforces its environmental laws and regulations, and is fulfilling its international environmental obligations, including those related to public health.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that he hopes that a technical fixes bill for USMCA can pass this month, but its passage is hung up on whether goods manufactured in foreign-trade zones should be able to benefit from USMCA if those goods meet the rules of origin.
China's attempts at using economic tools, such as export controls on rare earth minerals or punishing imports from Australia, have only been somewhat successful, according to Maximilian Ernst, the speaker on the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies webinar Dec. 7, called “How to Respond to China’s Carrots and Sticks? Prospects of a Transatlantic Response to Chinese Economic Coercion.” Ernst is researching Chinese coercion for a Ph.D.
More than 200 businesses and trade groups, led by the National Association of Manufacturers, are asking House and Senate leadership to include a renewal of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill in the spending bill Congress is working to pass this month. The omnibus appropriations bill, which covers the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, is attracting lobbying on many trade priorities, including the alcohol excise tax reduction for small producers, the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, and more.
Supply chain scholars disagreed on how likely companies are to move production out of China, either due to tariffs or to a desire to diversify sourcing, but agreed that companies aren't likely to be ready for demand shocks without government support. They spoke Dec. 4 during a webinar hosted by the Center for Global Development.
Former House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and a former Democratic congressman both say that trying to return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership can't happen in the medium term. Boehner and former Rep. Joe Crowley of New York were speaking on a Meridian International Center online program Dec. 4. Boehner said that “without Trade Promotion Authority, the administration's hands will be tied” on joining the TPP. He said it would be “a pretty tall ask” to get TPA renewed in 2021. “I think there will be engagement” on trade with Asian countries other than China, he said, adding: “I think it will be pretty small.” Crowley agreed, saying that although the incoming Joe Biden administration seems inclined to multilateral trade approaches, “TPP, it's a big, big, big step. I don't see that happening in the first two years.”
United Steelworkers recommended a candidate to the Joe Biden transition team for the next U.S. trade representative, and emphasized how important that USTR pick is to the union, President Tom Conway told a virtual audience for a webinar hosted by the Alliance for American Manufacturing. “We expect to see a bunch of friends we can work with,” Conway said Dec. 3. AAM is partly funded by the Steelworkers, and an AAM employee is volunteering on the USTR transition team.