U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a year-end video, pointed to a number of settlements during 2021 that both bolstered America's relationships with its allies and promoted the fight against climate change. She pointed to the settlement of a Section 337 case between two South Korean battery makers that allowed for a Georgia plant to open (see 2104120004); the settlement of the 17-year dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing (see 2106150021 and 2106170025); and the agreement between the European Union and the U.S. to replace Section 232 tariffs with a quota system (see 2111010039).

A White House action plan to combat human trafficking, which tackles forced labor both in the U.S. and abroad, includes a "priority action" to coordinate and cooperate with other countries' law enforcement bodies to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking on fishing vessels and in "the potential risk areas throughout the seafood supply chain, such as shore-based processing operations." The plan also says that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will continue to encourage other countries to put in place bans on imports of goods made with forced labor, as it did through the NAFTA rewrite. USTR Katherine Tai said in a release noting the plan's goals, "At USTR, we will use the power of trade to be a force for good and will continue to address forced labor and human trafficking in global supply chains." Government agencies will continue to work to promote federal resources on how to avoid forced labor in supply chains to companies. "Facilitated discussions will include both general information sessions and deeper discussions to address specific challenges and opportunities in the various industries," the plan said.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal agreed to continue working to resolve outstanding trade issues "to reach convergence in the near future," according to a joint statement released Nov. 23 at the conclusion of the India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in New Delhi. Both countries discussed wanting better treatment of their exports. "India highlighted its interest in restoration of its beneficiary status under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences program; the United States noted that this could be considered, as warranted, in relation to the eligibility criteria determined by the U.S. Congress."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she hears frequently from stakeholders about "market access restrictions, high tariffs, unpredictable regulatory requirements, and restrictive digital trade measures" in India, and said those are issues "where we need to make progress."

Congress should direct CBP to impose "a region-wide Withhold Release Order on products originating from Xinjiang, China," the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said within a group of 32 recommendations for lawmakers. Congress should also require the Department of Homeland Security "to provide a comprehensive list of technologies needed and an outline of the resources required to enforce the Withhold Release Order and address other instances of China’s use of forced labor." it said in the report, released Nov. 17.

The former minister counselor for trade affairs in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing told an audience that in the last few years, Chinese government officials "feel like they've outflanked us on the trade front." James Green, who was speaking on a Flexport webinar on the future of U.S.-China trade policy, said that officials were pleasantly surprised that the tariffs on most exports to the U.S. did not hurt their economy more. And, he said, between sealing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and applying to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they also feel like they have other options for exporting when things with the U.S. sour.

David Spooner, Washington counsel for the U.S. Fashion Industry Association, said that while the U.S. trade representative's China policy speech was underwhelming, he doesn't think the possibility of renewing 549 exclusions that expired at the end of last year will be the only olive branch to importers hurt by the China trade war. "Will we see other [expired] exclusions open to renewal? A new window open for exclusions? I hear 'yes.' When that will happen, and what that will look like, remains unclear," Spooner said at a virtual USFIA conference Nov. 9.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that the administration is "very supportive" of Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0, a bipartisan bill from Ohio's senators that would clarify how dumping calculations are made, would provide for expedited successive investigations when there is an import surge from a new country on a product subject to a trade remedy order, and would address extraterritorial subsidies (see 2104160037)

Nominees for the envoy to the World Trade Organization whose rank is at a deputy level in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the first-ever deputy USTR for Innovation and Intellectual Property, avoided specifics when questioned by Senate Finance Committee members on WTO negotiations. But Maria Pagán and Chris Wilson assured the senators that they understand what their views are and that their issues are also priorities for the administration.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she talked about "ongoing efforts to address global overcapacity in the steel and aluminum sectors and shared challenges posed by non-market economies" when she met with her European Union counterpart on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Sorrento, Italy. The EU did not issue its own readout of the meeting, but Valdis Dombrovskis tweeted, "Met [the] USTR, Ambassador Tai, to continue our discussions on finding a settlement on the Trump steel & aluminium tariffs #232. The work continues." He has previously said that an agreement on Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum has to be reached by early November in order to prevent retaliatory tariffs from doubling on Dec. 1. Those retaliatory tariffs have hurt the export of American spirits.