The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will hold a public hearing on Sept. 26 on whether Turkey should continue to receive Generalized System Preferences program benefits in light of Turkey's retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. (see 1808060021). Comments and requests to appear at the hearing are due by Sept. 12, and post-hearing briefs are due by Oct. 17, USTR said in a notice.
The 25 percent tariffs on about $16 billion worth of Chinese imports, scheduled to take effect Aug. 23 (see 1808080020), will be listed in the Aug. 16 Federal Register, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Aug. 15 in a notice to be published Aug. 16. The tariffs will be levied when goods leave the warehouse for consumption, or enter the country. For questions on customs classification or implementation of additional duties on products identified in the notice, contact Traderemedy@cbp.dhs.gov.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for submissions of "notorious markets," so that it can compile a list that "identifies online and physical marketplaces that reportedly engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting." Written submissions are due by Oct. 1 at regulations.gov. Rebuttal comments are due by Oct. 15.
Hundreds of companies -- the vast majority in opposition to new duties on goods from China -- asked to testify during four days of hearings beginning Aug. 20 on the proposed third tranche of Section 301 tariffs on an estimated $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. Requests were due Aug. 13 in docket USTR-2018-0026 under the deadline U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer extended from July 27 when he announced Aug. 1 he will “consider,” at President Donald Trump’s direction, raising the third tranche of proposed duties to 25 percent from 10 percent. Lighthizer in an Aug. 7 notice said he reserves the option to “extend the length of the hearing depending on the number of additional interested persons who request to appear.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, after two days of discussions with Japanese Minister for Economic Revitalization Toshimitsu Motegi, said the two sides "had frank discussions" on their respective views on trade and investment. They will be exploring "ways to fill the gap between their positions and to promote trade between the United States and Japan," USTR said in an emailed statement.
The proposed third tranche of 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports targets equipment “critical for the build-out” of 5G mobile phone technology, the Internet of Things and “big data,” according to K.C. Swanson, Telecommunications Industry Association director-global policy, in prehearing testimony posted in docket USTR-2018-0026. Though the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative hasn’t released a schedule of witnesses to testify at four days of public hearings on the tariffs beginning Aug. 20, Swanson is scheduled to testify Aug. 21, she said. Requests to testify were due Aug. 13 under the deadline USTR Robert Lighthizer extended from July 27 when he announced Aug. 1 he will “consider,” under President Donald Trump’s direction, raising the third tranche of proposed duties to 25 percent from 10 percent (see 1808010070).
A Trump ally on trade says getting Mexico and Canada to agree to country-of-origin labeling for beef and pork should be part of the NAFTA negotiations. Bringing back COOL was not in the NAFTA negotiating objectives presented to Congress last year. The Coalition for a Prosperous America says that bringing COOL back will boost domestic agriculture. "If the president wants to extend his ‘Buy American, Hire American’ agenda to the nation’s agricultural sector, then we need to revise our food labeling policies,” CPA Chairman Dan DiMicco said. "Americans undoubtedly want to buy safe, domestically farmed beef and pork."
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Aug. 7 that the Morocco would begin allowing commercial imports of American poultry products. "I welcome Morocco’s agreement to allow imports of U.S. poultry meat and products and the economic opportunities that will be afforded to U.S. producers," Lighthizer said. The government estimated that the Moroccan demand will be about $10 million in the first year. USTR said the U.S. had global sales of poultry meat and products of $4.3 billion in 2017. The Food Safety and Inspection Service posted information on export requirements for Morocco on Aug. 7.
The International Trade Commission will begin an investigation into what barriers the United Kingdom has to small and medium businesses seeking to export from the United States. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent a letter Aug. 3 requesting that a report be reproduced no later than July 31, 2019. The letter said barriers could include burdensome customs procedures, low de minimis thresholds for duties or value added tax, arbitrary standards and lack of transparency on regulations. Lighthizer suggested the ITC consult its report from 2014 on similar barriers in the European Union.
Turkey, which exported about $1.66 billion in goods duty free through the Generalized System of Preferences last year, may be barred from the program after a review at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The value of Turkish imports that come in duty free through GSP has increased by nearly 50 percent in five years, according to USTR data.