Even though there still are nearly two years left in the African Growth and Opportunity Act, companies that source from Africa and the countries who use AGOA tariff breaks are pushing Congress to renew the program long before the Sept. 30, 2025, deadline.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she discussed the next steps for negotiations on the global arrangement on steel and aluminum with her EU counterpart, Valdis Dombrovskis, and said she updated France's Foreign Trade Minister Olivier Becht on the negotiations. Her Oct. 28 readout of the meeting with Becht said she "noted the importance of both sides continuing to work together in a productive manner over the next several months. She reiterated the United States’ commitment to remain at the negotiating table in order to reach a meaningful outcome."
Thirteen senators -- seven Democrats and six Republicans -- urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to schedule a vote within a few months so that the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade benefits program is renewed early. AGOA’s authorization expires in September 2025.
The Senate Finance Committee's top Republican, along with seven of his colleagues, accused Office of the U.S. Trade Representative officials of misleading congressional staff on what they would be negotiating on digital trade at the World Trade Organization. "As recently as this weekend, USTR officials told congressional staff that they had not abandoned support for negotiating the free data flow commitments at issue," Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and his colleagues wrote Oct. 26.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced that it is seeking Mexico’s review of a labor rights complaint directed against a Tecnologia Modificada plant in Nuevo Laredo. Liquidation will be suspended for entries from the plant until further notice.
A bipartisan group of nine senators sent a letter to the commerce and energy secretaries and the U.S. trade representative opposing a potential critical minerals deal between the U.S. and Indonesia.
The U.S. will look for ways to improve the African Growth and Opportunity Act at the 20th AGOA forum in Johannesburg next weekend, two high-level trade policymakers said during a Oct. 26 press briefing.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who traveled to China with the Senate majority leader and other senators in mid-October, said what he saw there reinforced his desire to pass what he calls a "foreign pollution fee," a tariff on imports that are more carbon intensive than domestic production. He told International Trade Today that he'll introduce the bill "we think later this month, or maybe early next month."
The Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the fifth negotiating round for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, held in Malaysia Oct. 15-24, made progress "towards high-standard outcomes" in trade, clean economy and fair economy pillars. "Officials also continued discussions on next steps for the proposed IPEF Supply Chain Agreement (Pillar II) following substantial conclusion of negotiations in May and public release of the text on September 7th," their readout said.
When the U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization said the U.S. was no longer arguing that data localization is a violation of trade rules, and is no longer pushing for open data flows, blowback in the U.S. was immediate, and not just from industry interests who want the right to protect source codes and want the ability to transfer data across borders freely.