Under a newly introduced bill imposing a pollution fee, importers of record would have to pay a tax based on the percentage of the value of the imported good and calculated on the difference between the pollution intensity of that good's production in the country it's manufactured in and domestic production.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jayme White, whose portfolio covers Europe, the Western Hemisphere and the Middle East, is leaving his position, with his last day Nov. 1, the office announced.
Not only does the byzantine system of tariff rate quotas and the suspension agreement with Mexican sugar exporters hike the cost of sugar, a new government report says that the methods of allocating and re-allocating TRQs result in consistent shortfalls in imports so that supply doesn't meet domestic demand, and shortages for food manufacturers, particularly late in the year.
Mauritania will participate in the African Growth and Opportunity Act program and receive benefits next year, since it has made progress in ending hereditary slavery, but Ethiopia, which was expelled from participation due to human rights violations during a rebel uprising, won't be allowed back in.
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.