Jacob Kopnick

House Democrat working group members -- those responsible for convincing the administration to edit the new NAFTA to suit Democrats -- are encouraged and said that there is a deal to be had, if the administration continues to compromise, multiple members said in Sept. 18 interviews. Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., told International Trade Today Sept. 18: "We were pleased to get an answer ... it's not there [yet], but it's encouraging. We're going to meet tomorrow, and next week, and we'll just keep plugging away, narrowing the gaps, and if people want a deal, we can make one."

A recently reached U.S.-Japan free trade deal makes up 90 percent of the losses farmers experienced because the U.S. dropped out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, during a Sept. 17 call with reporters. "I haven’t seen anything on paper, but according to [the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative], it puts us on this level playing field with our trading partners," he said.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue said he doesn't believe that the Trump administration will declare victory if Chinese buyers return to buying pork, soybeans and corn. "I don't think it will be an agreement of any type until it's a matter of substance," he said.

Rep. Ron Kind, co-chairman of the New Democrats' trade task force, said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has done a good job on outreach, and sounding sympathetic to Democrats' complaints about enforceability, labor and other issues they want changed in the NAFTA rewrite. But Kind, who was speaking to reporters on a conference call from the Midwest on Sept. 4, said that "for some reason there's been a reluctance on sharing paper, putting words down" that would change the trade deal to satisfy these requests.

Of the 140 Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings that the Consumer Technology Association urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in its June 17 comments to remove from List 4 Section 301 tariff exposure, the association won 37 deferrals to Dec. 15 in key product areas like smartphones, laptops and tablets and PC monitors when the final lists were released Aug. 13 (see 1908130033). The remaining subheadings face 10 percent tariff exposure when the duties on the newly configured List 4A take effect Sept. 1.

Ten comments documents filed by trade groups and companies that would be affected by a digital services tax imposed in France -- as well as one filing by a European think tank -- describe the problems with the tax and the discriminatory intent against U.S. companies. But three of the groups, and one company, told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that tariffs on French imports under Section 301 are not the way to fix the problem, while only two individuals called for tariffs as a way to get France to roll back the law.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, laid out sweeping changes to U.S. trade policy she'd like to see, touching on fast track, free trade agreement negotiating principles, labor enforcement, tariff sunsets and a border carbon adjustment tax. Warren, who published her trade agenda July 29, said the current trade policy is dictated by multinational corporations. "Those big corporations have gotten rich but everyone else has paid the price," she wrote.

Five years of data exclusivity for biologics, an end to panel blocking and undefined "mechanisms and resources" to monitor and enforce labor and environmental laws in Mexico are the core of what the House Democrats have asked the Trump administration to change in its NAFTA rewrite. The House Democrats' working group revealed more of what it is asking for in a report sent to the Speaker's office and released publicly July 26. In that report, they wrote, "It is time for the administration to present its proposals and to show its commitment to passing the new NAFTA... ."

Officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and trade officials from Thailand met July 23 to talk about the U.S. review of whether to keep Thailand in the Generalized System of Preferences program. The U.S. is troubled by lack of market access for U.S. pork producers, Thai workers' rights, and the trade deficit in goods. Out of $44.5 billion in two-way goods trade, the U.S. has a $19.3 billion deficit. "The United States raised issues related to agriculture, customs, intellectual property protection and enforcement, and labor," USTR said.

In order to get back in America's good graces, India needs to do more than open its market to American dairy and pay medical device companies fairly, according to Jeffrey Gerrish, deputy U.S. trade representative. Those were the trade irritants that led to India's suspension from the Generalized System of Preferences, but at a U.S. India Strategic Partnership Forum leadership summit event July 11, Gerrish said the two countries need to "move beyond" the issues behind the GSP review to a more comprehensive reckoning.