USTR

Senate Finance Committee members on Wednesday grilled the president’s pick to serve as chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, focusing on soybean farmers and U.S. support for Argentina – particularly President Trump’s plan to boost imports of Argentine beef. The nominee – Assistant USTR for Agricultural Affairs and Commodity Policy Julie Callahan – insisted that the agency is laser-focused on opening market access for U.S. producers broadly, including soybean farmers and cattle ranchers. During her...

Trade frictions and retaliation for U.S. tariffs have “priced out” U.S. soybeans from international markets, a group of Republican lawmakers charged this week, urging top administration officials to craft a “coordinated strategy” to expand market access and make soybeans a “central priority” in talks with China. China, typically a major buyer of U.S. soybeans, has purchased none this year. The U.S. soybean industry has been warning that this has allowed South American countries like Argentina and Brazil to cut into...

Idaho Governor Brad Little (R), an ally of President Trump, and other supporters of the U.S. potato industry are hopeful the administration can use ongoing trade talks with Japan to ensure long-sought access to the Japanese market. The governor, in particular, pressed administration officials on the negotiations ahead of Trump’s visit to Japan, which ended on Tuesday without any major announcements on agricultural trade. Little, whose state is the country’s biggest producer of potatoes, wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson...

U.S. and Chinese negotiators are closing in on the “final details” of a framework trade agreement ahead of an expected meeting of the countries’ leaders later this week, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday in Malaysia. The White House early on Oct. 26 also issued a tranche of statements on trade deals with several Asian countries. “I think we're moving forward to the final details of the type of agreement that the leaders can review and decide if...

China “appears” to have fallen far short of its commitments to the U.S. under a phase-one trade deal struck during the first Trump administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Friday, outlining its plans for a new probe into those commitments that could lead to new tariffs or other remedies. In a Federal Register notice slated to be published soon, USTR says its investigation – under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 – will focus...

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is set to open a probe into China’s compliance with the phase-one trade agreement reached during President Trump’s first term, according to a source familiar with the investigation. The probe will be filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and could be announced on Friday, the source said. The New York Times reported the planned investigation earlier on Thursday. The probe comes ahead of a much-anticipated meeting between President Trump...

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are setting out for Malaysia on Wednesday with plans to meet with their Chinese counterparts and attempt to work through elevated trade tensions ahead of an anticipated meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Greer spoke about the upcoming trip during an Oct. 22 interview on CNBC , saying he and Bessent were set to meet with Chinese officials “on the front end of this whole swing to...

Citing concerns about labor and human rights violations and other “unreasonable” policies pursued by the Nicaraguan government, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is recommending steep new tariffs on goods from Nicaragua and the suspension of benefits provided to the country under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement. In its report on an investigation into the country’s practices , which was opened by the Biden administration last year and conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of...