In its annual State of American Business, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce chose to emphasize the need to double the level of legal immigration, its opposition to Build Back Better legislation and what it sees as overly aggressive antitrust enforcement over the need to remove tariffs on hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Chinese imports. Three years ago, the Chamber was arguing that the tariffs needed to go (see 1901100007), but last year, admitted it was not politically feasible as it laid out its trade agenda (see 2101130057).
Although the U.S. has the most trade agreements with Western Hemisphere countries, many of those trading partners haven't developed as strongly as trading partners in Asia, said a panel of former ambassadors and a Brazilian consultant to businesses that operate in Latin America during a Center for Strategic and International Studies online panel Jan. 10.
Importers are concerned that they will face a higher likelihood of goods being detained over the suspicion of forced labor come June without having the benefit of government advice on effective due diligence and supply chain tracing. But even that advice may not be enough of a roadmap for companies to be sure they can escape the rebuttable presumption that the item they are importing that could have inputs linked to Uyghur labor or Xinjiang production should be barred from entry into the United States, said Ted Murphy, a partner at Sidley Austin.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative is seeking applicants for the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa for the four-year term that begins in March. Applicants should have knowledge on U.S-Africa trade, including under the African Growth and Opportunity Act; the government is interested in hearing from people with expertise in trade facilitation; sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures and technical barriers to trade; trade capacity building; constraints to trade; investment treaty negotiations; and implementation of World Trade Organization agreements. Applicants can be from industry or services businesses, organized labor, agriculture, non-profit development organizations or academia. Members who are selected will advise USTR on negotiating objectives, the impact of trade agreements, and fulfilling the objectives of AGOA. USTR is seeking to have a diverse committee, not just by demographics, but also by region of the country, the size of the organization the member represents, sectors and points of view.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that she expressed strong support for Lithuania "in the face of economic coercion" during a call with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis Jan. 7, and that the European Union and U.S. should work together to address coercive economic tactics "through various avenues, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council" (see 2201060034). The readout of the call also said they discussed steel and aluminum excess capacity. The U.S. replaced its tariffs on EU exporters in those sectors with tariff rate quotas that will last five years; it is Europe's goal to return to trade as it was before the Section 232 action.
Center for a New American Security Senior Fellow Emily Kilcrease asked Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., co-sponsor of a bill asking the Biden administration to come up with a strategy to counter China's economic coercion, (see 2110180036), how he'd like to see the U.S. respond to economic coercion from China. Should we hike tariffs? Offer direct assistance to affected companies? Make a statement?
In order for a vehicle assembled in North America to be originating, six of seven super core parts -- such as the engine, transmission and suspension system, steering system and body -- have to be at least 75% North American, once the transition from NAFTA to USMCA is done.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a year-end video, pointed to a number of settlements during 2021 that both bolstered America's relationships with its allies and promoted the fight against climate change. She pointed to the settlement of a Section 337 case between two South Korean battery makers that allowed for a Georgia plant to open (see 2104120004); the settlement of the 17-year dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing (see 2106150021 and 2106170025); and the agreement between the European Union and the U.S. to replace Section 232 tariffs with a quota system (see 2111010039).
A Sandler Travis lawyer, looking forward to trade developments in 2022, said CBP is scheduled to issue a final rule in February for USMCA implementation, including applying the part 102 rules for nonpreferential purposes to goods produced in Canada and Mexico (see 2107010045). "This would avoid situations where goods could qualify under the USMCA as a product of Mexico, but still be hit with Section 301 tariffs," Mark Tallo said on the firm's "Two Minutes on Trade" podcast.
All the Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee, led by ranking member Mike Crapo of Idaho, are questioning the administration's decision to trade off extraterritorial taxation of U.S.-headquartered companies (Pillar One) in exchange for a global minimum corporate income tax (Pillar Two) and the removal of digital services taxes.