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Margaret Spiegelman

Margaret Spiegelman

Margaret Spiegelman is an associate editor with Inside U.S. Trade.

Archived Articles

U.S., Mexico still at odds over auto rule-of-origin interpretation

The U.S. and Mexico continue to disagree on how to interpret auto rules of origin in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier said on Friday, following meetings in Washington this week with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and others. “We believe that the rules of origin have not been interpreted the way it was agreed at the moment we signed the agreement,” Clouthier said during a press conference on Friday at the Mexican Embassy in Washington. Mexico contends...

IMF official: Global carbon price floor would make border taxes a non-issue

A proposal under discussion at the International Monetary Fund to price carbon in countries around the world based on their level of development would obviate the need for carbon border adjustment measures, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday. Amid recent proposals for carbon border adjustment measures from the European Union and Democratic lawmakers in the U.S., IMF staff have been developing what Georgieva called an alternative proposal: a global carbon price floor with graduated pricing to accommodate varying...

Apparel and footwear reps: Importers need tariff relief, action on shipping crisis

The Biden administration should use “all the tools in the toolbox,” including tariff relief, to help importers cope with a pandemic-related surge in shipping costs, two apparel and footwear industry advocates tell Inside U.S. Trade. Freight costs are “really spiraling out of control,” American Apparel and Footwear Association President and CEO Stephen Lamar said in an interview. AAFA is a trade group that represents hundreds of apparel and footwear companies and their suppliers. Lamar in recent weeks has sent...

Lawmakers: Mexico energy market-access barriers violate USMCA

New energy-sector legislation in Mexico creates trade barriers for U.S. companies and undermines “the spirit and the letter” of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a bipartisan group of House members and senators told President Biden on Tuesday, calling for a “timely solution.” Twenty lawmakers from both chambers sent a letter to the president calling on him to address with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador legislation they say “severely” limits U.S. companies’ access to hydrocarbon and renewable energy markets in Mexico. The...

Democrats unveil carbon border tax proposal

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) on Monday introduced legislation that would establish a border adjustment measure on carbon-intensive imports, a mechanism some Democrats believe should be part of a developing $3.5 trillion budget plan. The “Fair, Affordable, Innovative, and Resilient Transition and Competition Act” would establish a border adjustment measure on carbon-intensive imports “to account for the cost incurred by U.S. businesses to comply with laws and regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions,” according to a fact...

Portman calls for new trade deal with Ecuador, stronger regional ties

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) this week called for a new trade agreement with Ecuador and stronger trade ties with other countries in the region. In remarks delivered on Tuesday on the Senate floor, Portman spoke about a recent trip he made to Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Guatemala with five other senators -- Tim Kaine (D-VA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Chris Coons (D-DE) -- during which the group met with the president of each...

European Commission: Carbon border adjustment tax will be WTO-compliant

The European Commission on Wednesday released its proposal for a carbon border adjustment tax -- the world’s first -- and insisted the plan will be compatible with World Trade Organization rules. The proposal came the same day Senate Democrats revealed they were planning to include a carbon border tax as part of a developing $3.5 trillion budget plan, according to reports from Bloomberg and The New York Times . The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in its annual report...

Crapo, Grassley urge administration to fill USTR chief IP negotiator role

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Mike Crapo (R-ID) and fellow Finance member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to nominate a candidate for chief intellectual property negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, a deputy-level position created near the end of the Obama administration that has never been filled. Crapo, during a Finance meeting to vote on the nominations of Sarah Bianchi and Jayme White for deputy USTR posts, said the vote “highlights the Administration...

USTR official: ‘Forward-looking component’ key to remediation plan with Mexico

A new remediation plan to resolve a U.S. labor complaint against Mexico under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rapid-response mechanism includes a key “forward-looking component,” a senior U.S. Trade Representative official said on Thursday, noting that the Mexican government will strengthen its oversight of union legitimization votes as it moves to put the plan into action. The U.S. brought the complaint in May after receiving a tip through a confidential hotline -- established under USMCA -- that management at a General Motors...

EU ambassador: Tariff tensions ‘quelled’ early in Biden administration

Ill feelings in the European Union over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on national security grounds have been “quelled” significantly by “positive interactions” with the Biden administration, EU Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis said on Thursday, adding that he hopes the trading partners will be able to work together to address steel industry overcapacity stemming from China. The U.S. and EU last month promised to address steel and aluminum global overcapacity by the end of the year --...

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