The Center for Strategic and International Studies "Trade Guys" said that while there is some pressure on Congress to get the Generalized Systems of Preferences benefits program renewed, and restrict de minimis, competing pressures make it unlikely bills will become law this year.
USDA this month announced its roster of 55 industry officials who will serve across seven agricultural trade advisory committees (ATAC) until 2028. The groups help advise both USDA and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on trade policy or provide technical advice and guidance “from the perspective of their specific product sectors,” the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in a press release. The groups include the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee as well as committees focusing on animals and animal products; fruits and vegetables; grains and seeds; processed foods; sweeteners and sweetener products; and tobacco, cotton, peanuts and hemp.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is amending two exclusions from Section 301 tariffs to conform the tariff numbers in the descriptions of the exclusions to recent tariff schedule changes, it said in an Aug. 6 notice. The affected exclusions are found at U.S. Notes 20(vvv)(iv)(10) and 20(vvv)(iv)(11) to subchapter III of Chapter 99. The conforming amendments are effective July 1.
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on how China and Russia are complying with their World Trade Organization commitments, including in its import regulation, export regulation, subsidies, non-tariff barriers, intellectual property rights enforcement, rule of law issues, and trade facilitation, or other issues.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeks comments by Sept. 9 on how it should impose Section 201 safeguards on imports of polyester staple fiber, after the International Trade Commission in July found imports of the product are injuring U.S. industry. USTR said it may recommend tariffs or a tariff rate quota, export quota agreements, import licensing or other actions as part of the potential safeguard. Responses to comments are due Sept. 16. USTR will hold a public hearing Sept. 30, with requests to appear also due Sept. 9.
Climate champion Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., used his perch at the head of the Senate Budget Committee to ask witnesses about the future of electric vehicles. Although Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., helped shape the panel, the future of electric vehicle production in the U.S. seemed somewhat cloudy if Republicans are able to win back the White House and Senate and retain a House majority, given most Republicans on the panel's views of the EV subsidies that are reshaping the EV supply chain.
Eight former Volkswagen factory workers who were union representatives will be reinstated with back pay, and one fired worker will receive severance pay, according to a remediation plan for Volkswagen de México, the largest auto manufacturing plant in Mexico, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced July 30.
Higher or new Section 301 tariffs on lithium-ion batteries for EVs, lead-acid battery parts, golf-cart like EVs, electric cars, vans and buses, plug-in hybrids, ship-to-shore cranes, solar cells, solar panels, syringes, needles, three categories of disposable masks, 26 critical minerals, more than 100 HTS codes covering iron and steel products, and 31 aluminum HTS codes, all on imports from China, will not go up on Aug. 1, as originally announced two months ago (see 2405220072).
The U.S. government, aware that many goods made with forced labor are inputs to finished goods, is working both to identify those inputs and to help importers understand that their goods could be banned from import as traceability becomes more possible.