Tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and the U.S. are "entirely inconsistent with the overall goals" of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a group of more than 35 trade groups told the U.S. trade representative in a letter sent Nov 19., and should be lifted so that the new NAFTA deal can be ratified. The letter, led by the National Foreign Trade Council, said that Congress may have a more difficult time ratifying the trade deal, given how many members have complained that tariffs are not needed on our neighbors. And, while the letter does not request a global lifting of the steel and aluminum tariffs, it says that the quotas and tariffs "have caused significant harm" to American manufacturers, and that the increased costs endanger jobs across many sectors, far more than those in the mills and smelters protected by the tariffs.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeks comments on U.S. negotiating objectives and priorities in potential trade agreements with the European Union and the United Kingdom. “Through the agreements, the Trump administration will seek to address both tariff and non-tariff barriers and to achieve fairer, more balanced trade,” both notices said. Comments may address tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, treatment of specific goods (as identified by tariff subheading) and customs and trade facilitation issues, among other things. Comments on the EU trade deal negotiations are due Dec. 10, and a public hearing is set for Dec. 14, USTR said in one notice. Comments on the UK negotiations are due Jan. 15, with a public hearing scheduled for Jan. 29, the agency said in the other notice. Both hearings will be held in Washington.
The U.S. Trade Representative's delegation in Geneva has challenged how India reports its agriculture subsidies on cotton, the agency announced Nov. 13. This followed similar action the U.S. took at the World Trade Organization in May on Indian subsidies for wheat and rice. At issue is what quantity of production is used by India to calculate market price supports, as well as a lack of information on the total value of production. "Based on U.S. calculations, it appears that India has substantially underreported its market price support for cotton. When calculated according to WTO Agreement on Agriculture methodology, India’s market price support for cotton far exceeded its allowable levels of trade distorting domestic support," the announcement said. The WTO Committee on Agriculture will discuss this claim at its next meeting Nov. 26-27.
NEW YORK -- The assistant U.S. trade representative for textiles acknowledged there are changes to NAFTA "you may not like," before he pitched changes to the pact that could be beneficial for the garment industry. Bill Jackson, who noted that textiles is the only sector to have a dedicated office at USTR, was speaking Nov. 7 at the Apparel Importers Trade and Transportation Conference. United States Fashion Industry Association President Julia Hughes, who was interviewing Jackson, agreed that the rewrite is "a mixed bag" for her industry.
Fourteen trade groups wrote to the U.S. trade representative asking him to strip language in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that suggests the de minimis level could be lowered to be closer to the NAFTA region trading partners' levels. The letter, sent Nov. 6, was initiated by the National Foreign Trade Council, and notes that Congress unilaterally raised the de minimis level in 2016 because "reduced logistics costs improve the bottom line of American small businesses across industries who import low value components for assembly and value-added manufacturing operations." It helps firms that import samples, the letter said, and benefits "importers and logistics firms by reducing the time and cost to process millions of shipments and shaving a half-a-day or more from clearing each shipment."
Mauritania, which exported about $54.9 million in goods to the U.S. last year under trade preferences, will be barred from the African Growth and Opportunity Act at the beginning of 2019, because of its continuing problem with forced labor. Virtually all of the imports that are covered by AGOA are fuel, though the U.S. does import a few million dollars' worth of fish, fertilizers and other products. President Donald Trump sent a notification of the change to Congress on Nov. 2.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has made its way through 7,818 requests for exclusions from the first tranche of Section 301 tariffs, and has asked CBP to determine if it is practical to admit the products at the border that are covered by 238 requests. Many of the requests that are in this provisional status cover the same HTS codes. The agency is tracking where requests are in the process through spreadsheets on its website, and marks those that are worthy of an exclusion as "stage 3." But those exclusions are provisional until the customs authority says they're administrable.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking public input on its negotiating objectives for talks with Japan, it said in a notice. People can submit written comments, or ask to testify at a public hearing on Dec. 10 at the International Trade Commission. The deadline for comments and to request an appearance at the hearing is Nov. 26. The USTR is seeking information about barriers to trade in goods and services between the U.S. and Japan; treatment of specific goods, described by their HTS numbers, under any proposed agreement; and "ways to address export priorities and import sensitivities in the context of the proposed agreement." The agency is also are interested in hearing about technical barriers to trade, customs and trade facilitation issues exporters would like to see addressed during negotiations, and an estimate of the economic benefits and costs to U.S. producers and consumers of the removal of U.S. tariffs and the removal or reduction of non-tariff barriers on articles traded with Japan.
The Philippines Secretary of Trade and Industry Ramon Lopez and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer issued a joint statement Oct. 22 describing "achievements resolving bilateral trade issues" between the two countries. The Philippines and U.S. have agreed to cooperate on automotive standards for imported autos; the Philippines has agreed to not discriminate against foreign electronics payments providers; and the U.S. will help the Philippines develop stronger cold chain practices, so it can export food that needs to be kept cold.
A group of companies, trade associations, labor unions and law firms that advocate for antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement says it appreciates that the new NAFTA creates procedures to address evasion of trade remedy orders. The Committee to Support U.S. Trade Laws says that AD and CVD laws are "constantly threatened by new and more subtle ways by our trading partners to illegally avoid payment of duties," and pointed to steel, bearings, furniture and honey as products involving duty circumvention or evasion. The changes to Chapter 10 will allow the U.S. to request duty evasion verification from Mexico or Canada, and the U.S. will be able to see confidential information to determine if duty evasion is happening. However, the press release noted, most evasion has been coming from Chinese firms.