Nathaniel Moulton left his position last week as an information and communications technology specialist within the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, he announced on LinkedIn. Moulton first joined Commerce in 2024 in the Office of Information and Communication Technologies, where he said he worked to "grow the U.S. quantum computing ecosystem and strengthen U.S. supply chain resilience." He also had a stint in 2021-2022 in policy coordination with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Haiti Economic Lift Program Extension Act (Haiti HELP) are scheduled to get floor votes next week through the suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority for passage. Both trade preferences expired Oct. 1.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the U.S. dollar procurement thresholds it will allow from foreign firms under the World Trade Organization agreement on procurement, United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement and the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is modifying the allocations of in-quota quantity under the annual beef tariff-rate quota, by its authority under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, according to a Federal Register notice.
China will take “corresponding measures” if the U.S. “continues down the wrong path” by imposing Section 301 tariffs on semiconductors, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular press conference Dec. 24 in Beijing.
The U.S. and Indonesia "have agreed on the substance stipulated in the reciprocal trade negotiation document," Indonesia said in a Dec. 23 news release, according to an unofficial translation. It said technical meetings for legal scrubbing would be held in the second week of January, and the agreement should be signed by the third week of January.
A notice from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to be published in the Federal Register Dec. 29 says that goods from Nicaragua that don't qualify for the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) should be entered beginning Jan. 1 under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 9903.89.01. That tariff number doesn't add any duty past the most-favored nation rate, but the goods also are subject to the reciprocal tariff of 18%, which is applied by HTS heading 9903.02.47.
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 U.S. Trade Representative announced that it found that China's non-market practices in developing its semiconductor industry unreasonably burdens or restricts U.S. commerce, but said the current Section 301 tariff of 50% on Chinese semiconductors will remain in place, with no hike planned until June 23, 2027. The rate has not been set, and there will be a notice on the new rate at least 30 days ahead of the deadline, the notice said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that while China has been burdening U.S. commerce with its non-market practices to develop its semiconductor industry, it won't be hiking Section 301 tariffs on Chinese chips until June 2027.