Barely more than half of the pharmaceuticals' value consumed in the U.S. is domestically produced, but re-shoring is not the answer to vulnerabilities in the supply chains for drugs or medical equipment, panelists said at a think tank event.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, when asked about the U.S. views on reviving dispute settlement at the World Trade Organization, said that countries need to reflect on how the previous system provided incentives for the U.S. and EU to "continue fighting for almost 20 years about state support for Boeing and Airbus, caused us to fight with each other, and pick at each other while the PRC [People's Republic of China] built up its own large civil aircraft industry under our noses."
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and USDA named to their newly established Seasonal and Perishable Agricultural Products Advisory Committee Astin Farms' Madison Astin, Bedner Growers' Marie Bedner, Georgia Fruit and Vegetables Growers Association's Chris Butts, A. Duda & Sons' Tracy Duda Champman, Southern Hill Farms' David Hill, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association's Michael Joyner, Fresh Produce Association of the Americas' Lance Jungmeyer, L&M Companies' Adam Lytch, MBG Marketing's Brad Moorer, Florida Strawberry Growers Association's Kenneth Parker and the Florida Farm Bureau's Jeb Smith.
Eleven workers were rehired at Minera Tizapa, and the mining company will bargain with the new union, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative and Labor Department announced, as a result of a rapid response labor complaint. The company had paid a bonus only to workers associated with the old union; as a result of this settlement, that bonus was paid to 249 other workers.
Liquidation of imported fabricated steel components from Servicios Industriales González in Nuevo Leon will resume, as the U.S. is satisfied with remediation at the facility after a USMCA rapid response labor complaint.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing a request for comments on the administrative burden of applying for Section 301 exclusions for manufacturing equipment. The comments will be due by July 30.
World Shipping Council CEO Joe Kramek said that his trade group doesn't take a position on whether Chinese practices to support its commercial shipbuilding industry are actionable under Section 301, but it "strongly opposes" the petitioners' proposal that a $1 million fee be levied on Chinese-built ships docking in U.S. ports.
Government subsidies for domestic manufacturing in strategic sectors tend to then need trade protections, former top U.S. trade representative officials from the Trump and Biden administrations agreed.
The U.S. has asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Volkswagen de México, S.A. de C.V. facility in Cuautlancingo, Puebla, are being denied their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced May 28.
The Government Accountability Office told Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, that Congress can't vote to overturn the Japan critical minerals agreement.