Senate Finance Committee members used a Thursday hearing on U.S.-China trade relations to offer suggestions for a bill the panel is developing as part of a competitiveness package Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to vote on soon, while others more broadly suggested issues with China they want addressed in some fashion.
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IN TRADE
The subcommittee will help the bank fulfill new obligations under President Biden’s “Climate Finance Plan.”
Thu, 5:10 PM
Our weekly look at who’s saying what.
Thu, 1:25 PM
Kim Glas is the president and CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations and a former Commerce Department official.
Thu, 12:39 PM
“Emphasize transparency, speed, consistency, and fairness,” they write, and “acknowledge both the practical realities of global value chains and the broader aim of supply chain diversification.”
Wed, 6:10 PM
“The similarities between the way American enterprises depend on India for IT services and China for manufacturing are striking,” states a new ITIF report.
Wed, 4:23 PM
Despite six months of discussion, a proposal to waive a swath of intellectual property obligations at the World Trade Organization to facilitate COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics access is no closer to approval, with developed members, including the U.S., continuing to question whether it would be effective and if IP rights are indeed barriers.
House Ways & Means Republicans on Thursday urged U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to relaunch Environmental Goods Agreement negotiations at the World Trade Organization.
President Biden’s “Climate Finance Plan,” unveiled on Thursday during the first day of the White House’s climate summit, includes commitments to boost funding for exports of environmentally beneficial goods.
A bill introduced last week by Ohio Sens. Rob Portman (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) to tighten trade remedy laws could lead to a major reform of antidumping and countervailing duties investigations, according to lawyers who work on such cases.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries this year intend to expand the forum’s list of environmental goods that receive reduced tariff treatment, a top New Zealand trade official said this week, arguing the APEC push could be a “building block” for work on the issue at the World Trade Organization.
USMCA
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Consultations with Canada over dairy tariff-rate quotas, which the Trump administration initiated as the first dispute under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, have lost steam in the early days of the Biden administration, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade, though U.S. industry advocates remain hopeful that the case will be reinvigorated by the new trade team.
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In her first speech since taking over as U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai on Thursday charted a new course for the agency that envisions trade policy at the center of the Biden administration's push to tackle large, existential problems – climate change, racial justice and inequality.
China
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The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday advanced a sweeping bill that includes numerous provisions aimed at countering China, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the latest version of a separate bill designed to boost U.S. competitiveness against China.
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U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will participate in the White House’s “Leaders Summit on Climate” this week, according to the State Department, which also confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak.
World Trade Organization
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Hoping to press members into a midyear agreement, the World Trade Organization director-general plans to bring trade ministers together virtually in July in an effort to resolve political sticking points in the negotiations to curb harmful fisheries subsidies.
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The Biden administration has ceased its push to exclude essential medicines and other critical medical inputs from its government procurement coverage at the World Trade Organization, avoiding a first test of the Government Procurement Agreement’s arbitration procedures and the potential for retaliation from other members.
A weekly overview of the policy moves driving the U.S.-China tech competition
Getting broad bipartisan support for China-focused legislation faces an uphill climb
Updated: Apr. 16
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TRADE IN TRANSITION
Sarah Bianchi, a longtime aide to President Biden in his prior roles, will be nominated for a deputy U.S. Trade representative portfolio that includes Asia, an administration official confirmed on Monday.
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New Zealand trade official: APEC to expand environmental goods list
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries this year intend to expand the forum’s list of environmental goods that receive reduced tariff treatment, a top New Zealand trade official said this week, arguing the APEC push could be a “building block” for work on the issue at the World Trade Organization.
-
Sources: Transition slowed U.S. challenge of Canada dairy practices under USMCA
Consultations with Canada over dairy tariff-rate quotas, which the Trump administration initiated as the first dispute under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, have lost steam in the early days of the Biden administration, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade, though U.S. industry advocates remain hopeful that the case will be reinvigorated by the new trade team.
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Okonjo-Iweala calls for July ministerial as fisheries talks heat up
Hoping to press members into a midyear agreement, the World Trade Organization director-general plans to bring trade ministers together virtually in July in an effort to resolve political sticking points in the negotiations to curb harmful fisheries subsidies.
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U.S. withdraws push to exempt essential medicines from GPA coverage
The Biden administration has ceased its push to exclude essential medicines and other critical medical inputs from its government procurement coverage at the World Trade Organization, avoiding a first test of the Government Procurement Agreement’s arbitration procedures and the potential for retaliation from other members.
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