If the U.S. want to secure an international agreement that establishes a minimum tax as a means to end tax evasion, it will have to accept an international digital tax, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday.
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In a joint statement, the African countries emphasize development, defend special and differential treatment and urge outcomes in agriculture negotiations.
Thu, 5:39 PM
In an interview with Bloomberg, the Commerce secretary called a mid-November deadline “imaginary."
Thu, 3:58 PM
CSIS senior adviser Scott Kennedy says the Trump administration will be “too busy” with phase one and “too disinterested in phase two for there to be much work on that” in 2020.
Thu, 3:32 PM
CSIS’ Claire Reade writes that the phase-one deal scores highest when measured against the “incremental” approach of prior administrations.
Wed, 5:02 PM
The Mexican government could soon change its food-labeling standards to mandate front-of-package labels for all prepackaged food and nonalcoholic beverages, which the U.S. and other countries say could run afoul of Mexico’s international trade obligations.
While the U.S. has agreed to delay the imposition of tariffs on French goods in exchange for Paris’ commitment to suspend the collection of taxes on digital services, industry sources say the fate of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development work on an international digital tax policy -- key to the newly struck détente -- remains uncertain.
While the Trump administration this week renewed threats to impose tariffs on European autos and auto parts, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took an opposite track, expressing optimism about an agreement that could be struck “in a few weeks.”
After meeting on Wednesday with World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevêdo in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump said the two would discuss a “whole new structure” for the WTO during talks in Washington, DC, in the coming weeks.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will be sent to the Canadian House of Commons on Jan. 29, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Tuesday, kicking off a ratification process that won’t conclude any sooner than early March, according to parliamentary procedure.
NAFTA
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Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) last week ripped the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s proposal to address the concerns of seasonal growers in Florida and Georgia, the latest move in a long-running battle between Southeast and Southwest states.
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The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s labor enforcement provisions work “both ways,” providing Mexican migrant workers in the U.S. greater recourse if their rights are violated, Mexican Undersecretary for North America Jesús Seade told Inside U.S. Trade.
China
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The head of the World Trade Organization is “100 percent sure” the body’s dispute settlement mechanism -- hobbled by a nonfunctioning Appellate Body -- will survive, but likely not in its pre-paralysis form.
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Fifteen percent duties on roughly $120 billion worth of Chinese goods will drop to 7.5 percent on Feb. 14, according to a draft Federal Register notice released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Wednesday.
World Trade Organization
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The head of the World Trade Organization is “100 percent sure” the body’s dispute settlement mechanism -- hobbled by a nonfunctioning Appellate Body -- will survive, but likely not in its pre-paralysis form.
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With less than six months before the 2020 ministerial conference, World Trade Organization members should expect to intensify their work in the negotiations to curb fisheries subsidies and be engaging on a near-constant basis, the chair of the negotiations said this week, according to a Geneva-based trade official.
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