While it seems clear that Joe Biden wants to “team up with our allies” to confront China, less clear is how that will work in reality, Mayer Brown international trade lawyer Tim Keeler said during a Nov. 17 Mayer Brown webinar about trade policy in the incoming administration. Keeler, who is a former chief of staff in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said a majority of Congress believes the Section 301 tariffs have been a source of leverage, while the European Union thinks the tariffs violated World Trade Organization rules.
The Cheese Importers Association of America, in a Nov. 16 update on its political activities, told members it is working on a joint letter with the European Dairy Association that will go to the Biden Transition Team and the European Commission on the Airbus-Boeing dispute, calling for an end to tariffs on both sides. The CIAA also said it was asked to join the Coalition Against the Restaurant Tariffs, a group of suppliers and restaurants, to lobby Congress about these tariffs.
A number of U.S. trade groups questioned the evidence behind the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's assertions that Vietnam is importing illegal timber, and the assertion that those logs end up in exported products going to the U.S. The groups said in comments to the agency that the notice initiating the Section 301 investigation contained no citations for these claims. Both trade groups and companies asked for a virtual public hearing, and the right to rebut others' submissions.
A recent strategic plan on intellectual property enforcement strategy and policy efforts mandated by statute calls for more executive action to strengthen CBP's hand, statutory changes to allow injunctions against online marketplaces that list counterfeit goods, and possible changes to who can ship de minimis packages. The plan is required under the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, known as PRO-IP.
The majority of comments from U.S. interests submitted on whether the U.S. should do anything to pressure Vietnam to stop manipulating its currency favor not putting tariffs on Vietnamese imports. Many comments filed in the docket express disagreement with the very premise of the investigation. HanesBrands, which manufacturers apparel in Vietnam that is exported to the U.S., Australia, Canada, the European Union and China, requested a public hearing on the investigation, and quoted the statute that requires such a hearing if requested by any interested person.
Although President-elect Joe Biden has said he wants to focus on domestic issues before turning to trade, Brian Pomper, a former chief international trade counsel when the Senate Finance Committee was controlled by Democrats, said he's going to have to deal with trade right away if the Trump administration imposes tariffs on France on Jan. 1 over its digital services tax proposal.
There are still three pending Section 232 investigations, and the one on downstream electrical steel products is already at the White House, so you shouldn't be surprised if the Trump administration hikes tariffs on more products on the way out the door, according to Halie Craig, the former trade staffer for Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa. Craig, who was speaking on behalf of the R Street Institute, a pro-market think tank, also said she wonders if there will be more action against China, since the country is not on track to meet its phase one purchase targets.
The Joe Biden transition teams have been announced. The team that is communicating with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the International Trade Commission and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency includes Democratic alumni; experts on trade, industrial policy and currency flows; and union critics of past free trade policy. The teams “are responsible for understanding the operations of each agency, ensuring a smooth transfer of power, and preparing for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect [Kamala] Harris and their [C]abinet to hit the ground running on Day One,” the announcement said.
U.S. Fashion Industry Association counsel David Spooner told attendees at the USFIA industry virtual conference Nov. 10 that while he thinks it's unlikely that the current administration would add new tariffs on China before leaving office in two months, it's possible that President Donald Trump could increase the tariff rate on list 4A, or put tariffs on list 4B, as a way of “venting his frustration with China.” Spooner, who is at law firm Barnes and Thornburg, said it's also possible that the administration will retaliate against European Union tariffs authorized by the World Trade Organization for past Boeing subsidies.
The U.S. Trade Representative announced that Mexico “will establish a strict monitoring regime for exports of electrical transformer laminations and cores made of non-North American” grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES), and as a result, if there is to be a tariff or quota on electrical transformers or the laminations and cores that are used in them, Mexico will not be subject to it.