The U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council has done some excellent work in technology, according to EU and U.S. trade officials, but it needs to tackle the "trade" part of its mission more directly. A discussion on Making a More Meaningful TTC also included executives from two technology industry associations, who were somewhat less laudatory about its results so far.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told Vietnam;s Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien that she wants to intensify bilateral economic ties through the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). The two said they would work on labor reforms, the environment, digital trade, agriculture and intellectual property. The two also talked about progress in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, according to a readout of the meeting.
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources Kelly Milton said that the discussions to create a common understanding between the U.S. and the EU on steel and aluminum not only have to define what green steel is or green aluminum is -- they also have to agree on how to block metals from their markets that were produced from non-market principles.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is amending two exclusions from Section 301 tariffs to correct the description of one and conform the tariff number to recent tariff schedule changes of the other, it said in a notice. The affected exclusions are found at U.S. Notes 20(ttt)(iv)(42) and 20(ttt)(iii)(36) to subchapter III of Chapter 99. Both exclusions were recently extended through September 2023 (see 2212160052).
A group of Texas members of the House of Representatives wrote to officials at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and USDA lauding their “forceful stand” against Mexican attempts to ban imports of genetically modified corn, and urging them to file a USMCA dispute if an agreement with Mexico is not reached.
The head of the Ways and Means Committee's Trade Subcommittee said that the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program never should have lapsed for two years, and he believes there's interest among House Democrats and Republicans "to get this done in a direct fashion that is timely and useful."
The Court of International Trade held oral arguments on Feb. 7 in the massive litigation over the lists 3 and 4A Section 301 tariffs. During the nearly two-hour affair, Judges Mark Barnett, Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves probed the parties' positions on whether the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative complied with the Administrative Procedure Act by properly considering comments made on the proposed tariffs when imposing the duties on $500 billion of Chinese goods (In Re Section 301 Cases, CIT # 21-00052).
With hostile acts like China recently sending a spy balloon drifting across the U.S., Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said it's difficult to manage the U.S.-China relationship "when our economies are deeply integrated."
Kenneth Schagrin, who has held several positions in his more than 20 years with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has been named assistant U.S. trade representative for the Office of Services and Investment. The office facilitates partnerships in financial services, telecom, digital trade and other services. He previously held the post in an acting position.
Japan brought up issues it has around the Inflation Reduction Act, while the U.S. asked Japan to increase its use of ethanol and have better regulatory transparency for "certain products and services," according to a readout of a trade discussion between the two countries released Feb. 3 by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.