In more than four hours of questioning during a hearing March 24 before the House Ways and Means Committee, no member of Congress advocated for lessening tariffs on Chinese goods under Section 301, or for reopening exclusions applications.
Almost five years after the first round of 25% tariffs were put on Chinese imports, it was trade irritants with Mexico and India, as well as concerns about tariff preference programs and the lack of a market-opening strategy, that senators dwelled on during the U.S. Trade Representative's appearance in front of the Finance Committee.
Senior U.S. officials and country representatives from the Pacific Islands Forum recently discussed the possibility of allowing eligible members of the PIF to be designated for a regional association for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative readout of the meeting said. The regional designation “has the potential to further integrate regional supply chains and promote enhanced access to the U.S. market for the developing Pacific Islands states,” the readout said. The U.S. and the Pacific Islands agreed to “a number of follow-up items, which will shape further trade and investment discussions in preparation for the United States-Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Dialogue later this year,” it said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The new Republican majority in the House Ways and Means Committee said it plans to do oversight across a multitude of trade policies advanced by the administration, including enforcement of trade agreements and trade negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade and the U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership. For existing FTAs, the committee said it wishes to identify provisions that should be updated to improve the agreements' benefits for the U.S.
An alliance of more than 25 GSP nations on Feb. 21 called on the U.S. Congress to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program. The program authorization lapsed in December 2020 and has yet to be renewed. The Alliance of GSP Countries includes Pakistan, Egypt, Thailand and Argentina, among others.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee said renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill didn't happen last year because Democrats pushed "social policy and environmental policy in MTB and GSP."
The head of the Ways and Means Committee's Trade Subcommittee said that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program never should have lapsed for two years, and he believes there's interest among House Democrats and Republicans "to get this done in a direct fashion that is timely and useful."
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.