President Donald Trump wants to “continue trade” with Qatar, he said Sept. 19, even as other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Egypt in June imposed a boycott on the country over concerns related to Doha’s alleged backing of terrorism. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in June announced he was blocking consent for arms sales to GCC states until a clearer path for resolving the boycott emerged (see 1706260053). Major U.S. arms sales are subject to preliminary approval by the chairman and ranking member of both the Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs Committee before a statutory 30-day congressional review process starts. "Senator Corker will again begin providing informal clearance on future sales when there is a path forward to resolve the dispute and sees this as a tool for additional administration leverage," a Corker aide said in an email.
The White House directed the Treasury and State departments on Sept. 8 to extend the Cuban Assets Control Regulations for another year, according to a presidential memorandum. The authority to administer sanctions on Cuba was set to expire on Sept. 14, the White House said.
The American Line Pipe Producers Association (ALPPA) asked the Trump administration to act quickly in slapping tariffs on imports pursuant to its ongoing Section 232 investigation on steel. In a Sept. 7 letter to President Donald Trump, ALPPA said global steel overcapacity, largely created by China, has spurred a surge of U.S. steel imports in recent years, despite G-20 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development discussions. “There is an urgent need for immediate Section 232 relief for the domestic large diameter line pipe industry,” the letter says. “Chinese producers are increasingly shipping greater volumes of dumped and subsidized steel to other countries for production of large diameter line pipe that can then be shipped to the U.S. market at lesser duty rates or, in many cases, duty free.”
The White House is allowing Japan and South Korea to buy “substantially” more military equipment from the U.S., President Donald Trump said in a tweet Sept. 5. Trump has provided “conceptual approval” for the purchase of “many billions of dollars’ worth of military weapons and equipment” from the U.S. by South Korea, the White House said in a readout of a Sept. 4 call between Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-In. A National Security Council spokeswoman said the “conceptual approval” means Congress would also have to sign off on the transaction before the equipment is exported. Days earlier, Trump threatened to cut off all U.S. trade with North Korea’s trading partners after that nation’s latest nuclear test in another tweet. "The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea," Trump said in the Sept. 3 tweet.
NAFTA talks probably will extend past the U.S.’s hoped-for deadline of Dec. 31, as major differences among the three parties involved start to emerge and the U.S. lacks political direction on several fundamental issues, trade analysts said Sept. 5. The U.S. during the second round of renegotiations Sept. 1-5 in Mexico City floated domestic content requirements for automobiles under NAFTA, but didn’t put forth a definitive threshold, a trade lobbyist said. U.S. negotiators have bandied about the possibility of a 35 percent to 50 percent requirement for U.S. automobile content, and are likely to go to the third round in Ottawa with a more specific proposal, the lobbyist said.
President Donald Trump on Aug. 30 again said the U.S. will “terminate” NAFTA if it can’t renegotiate it, according to a White House transcript of his tax reform speech in Springfield, Missouri. "Hopefully we can renegotiate it," he said. "But if we can't, we'll terminate it and we'll start all over again with a real deal." Trump repeatedly mentioned a potential withdrawal from NAFTA in recent weeks (see 1708280025 and 1708230036). Asked during a visit to Washington this week whether Mexico would continue renegotiating in the case that Trump -- as a negotiation tactic -- triggered NAFTA’s six-month process for U.S. withdrawal, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso said, “No,” according to an Aug. 30 Reuters article. During his visit to Washington, Videgaray agreed with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to “continue with a ‘serious’ renegotiation process,” Reuters reported him as saying. Trump also called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Aug. 31, and both "stressed their hope" to conclude negotiations by the end of 2017, the White House said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department didn’t comment. The second round of NAFTA renegotiations will take place in Mexico City Sept. 1-5.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was set to update President Donald Trump on NAFTA negotiations during a 20-minute meeting starting at 11 a.m. Aug. 30, according to a White House spokeswoman. A meeting with Lighthizer was listed on Trump’s schedule for Aug. 30. Trump recently said withdrawal from NAFTA may be necessary (see 1708280025). The second round of NAFTA renegotiations will take place in Mexico City Sept. 1-5.
President Donald Trump on Aug. 25 announced his intent to nominate Andrei Iancu to be under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Iancu is currently the managing partner of Irell and Manella law firm, focusing on IP law. He has appeared in front of the International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. district courts, and the PTO, the White House said.
President Donald Trump on Aug. 27 repeated his threat to pull the U.S. from NAFTA in a tweet, drawing pushback from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada,” Trump tweeted. “Both being very difficult, may have to terminate?” In an Aug. 27 press release, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Mexico won’t negotiate NAFTA or any other bilateral matter with the U.S. “through social media or any other news platform.” The ministry added that Mexico is taking a “serious and constructive” approach to NAFTA renegotiations, “always putting our national interests first, and seeking a beneficial result whereby the three North American countries win.” The government of Canada didn’t comment. Trump also threatened to terminate NAFTA during an Aug. 22 rally in Phoenix (see 1708230036).
Thirty-one steel executives from 25 U.S. steel and steel-related companies urged President Donald Trump to take immediate and decisive action under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to curb “surging” steel imports. In a letter dated Aug. 23, executives said efforts to combat overcapacity through mechanisms like the G-20 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development haven’t worked. “Under your bold leadership, Mr. President, with your vision for ‘America First,’ this can and must change,” they wrote. “In June, steel imports hit their highest monthly total in more than two years by capturing 30% of the U.S. market. Immediate action must meaningfully adjust imports to restore healthy levels of capacity utilization and profitability to the domestic industry over a sustained period.”