President Joe Biden signed the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act into law Aug. 7 but said there are constitutional concerns with language that would require the U.S. trade representative to provide negotiating texts to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees "in the midst of negotiations," and would also preclude USTR from presenting its text to Taiwan while Congress is reviewing it.
The National Foreign Trade Council said Canada's proposed digital services tax "is clearly discriminatory towards U.S. companies," and the bill's introduction is shortsighted.
Anabel Gonzalez, one of the World Trade Organization's deputy directors-general, said in a farewell column that although progress is being made on improving the WTO, "governments face some tough choices in the months and years to come to deal with pressing matters that, if left unchecked, could seriously erode the multilateral trading system and damage trade as an engine of growth and prosperity."
China's exports of cars have jumped sharply as its domestic car demand has flattened, experts said, but the impacts for U.S. auto production may not repeat what happened to other manufacturing sectors undercut by cheap Chinese imports.
Mexico has rejected a rapid response mechanism complaint from the U.S. concerning employer actions at a lead, zinc and copper mine called San Martin, in Zacatecas state. This is the first time Mexico has disagreed with a request, but the government signaled this position during the trinational summit last month (see 2307070043).
The U.S. and Mexico this week resolved a complaint involving workers' rights at the Draxton auto parts foundry in Irapuato, Guanajuato, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced July 31, marking the fifth time the countries agreed on a formal course of remediation under the USMCA's Rapid Response Labor Mechanism.
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The Senate Commerce Committee on July advanced a bill that would require sellers of new merchandise online to disclose "in a conspicuous manner" in its listing the product's country of origin.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeks a second round of comments in connection with its annual review of the eligibility of countries for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (see 2305160050) following a hearing the agency held on July 24 (see 2307240037), it said in a notice. Post-hearing comments are due by Aug. 8.
The Biden administration's trade agenda should focus less on protectionism and more on traditional trade agreements, said a former treasury secretary and U.S. trade representative during a July 25 event hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.