The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is inviting submissions on how USMCA is working in the automotive goods arena, "including the implementation and enforcement of the USMCA rules of origin for automotive goods" and whether the accord's automotive provisions "are relevant in light of technological and production advances." Comments can be submitted through March 28 in docket number USTR-2022-0001.

Importers and exporters will again be able to ship bivalve molluscan shellfish to and from the EU beginning in late February, following the conclusion of negotiations Feb. 4 to allow for resumption of bilateral trade, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a press release late that day. “For the first time since 2011, U.S. producers, beginning in the states of Massachusetts and Washington, are eligible to export live, raw and processed bivalve molluscan shellfish to the EU, including oysters, clams, mussels, and whole or roe-on scallops,” USTR said. “EU producers in Spain and the Netherlands are also now to export live and raw bivalve molluscan shellfish to the United States.”

The deputy U.S. trade representative whose portfolio covers Asia and Africa acknowledged that it may be more challenging to get buy-in from countries for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework without the carrot of lower U.S. tariffs, but she said corporate support will help negotiators get agreement.

A readout of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai's meeting with South Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Tai noted "strong concerns" among U.S. steel producers, and said the U.S. is not ready to expand "conversations to develop a global arrangement that addresses the carbon intensity of steel and aluminum trade." She said she emphasized the challenges of global overcapacity driven by non-market practices. Tai said she updated Yeo on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and discussed the need to cooperate in addressing global supply chain issues. They agreed to work together to promote resilient supply chains.

The Biden administration's interagency task force to monitor and combat human trafficking had its first meeting this week, and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said they will launch "a thorough interagency review of our existing trade policies and tools used to combat forced labor, including forced child labor, to determine areas that may need strengthening and gaps that need to be filled."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said countries need to find "pragmatic solutions to increase vaccine production," during a Jan. 21 video call with 30 other trade ministers from the European Union, China, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Jamaica, the United Kingdom and other countries. The World Trade Organization has been struggling to agree on how trade laws could be eased to increase distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments to developing countries. Tai's readout of the call also said there's an opportunity to reach a conclusion to the fisheries subsidies negotiations, but she wants there to be "an ambitious agreement that improves the status quo." She also said the WTO needs to tackle agriculture issues.

Imports from Haiti and the 16 Caribbean countries and U.S. territories covered by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act declined 8.9% in 2020 from 2019, after a 8.2% decline from 2018 to 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative reported. In 2020, the countries collectively exported $5.1 billion in goods to the U.S. -- behind faraway Slovakia. These imports represent only .2% of imports in 2020. The USTR attributed the decline to COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions.

At a virtual World Economic Forum, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the director-general of the World Trade Organization and CEOs in manufacturing and shipping said traders will change the ways they manage supply chains because of lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Tai said "the pandemic in particular has laid bare vulnerabilities in this version of globalization that we have and existing supply chains that we all feel strongly that we need to address."

After the first USMCA deputies meeting, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. issued a joint statement saying that they are scrutinizing the implementation of the prohibition on importing goods made with forced labor. They also discussed environmental law enforcement cooperation, and training planned this year for small businesses so they can access the treaty's benefits. All said "though there have been challenges, progress continues to be made under the Agreement."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council should not be seen as a prelude to reentering talks for a comprehensive trade agreement, and she threw cold water on the idea of a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom as well.