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Margaret Spiegelman

Margaret Spiegelman

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

Archived Articles

Ahead of hearing, Ethiopia and Uganda push for restored AGOA benefits

Ethiopia and Uganda are re-upping calls to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to reinstate their trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, while Somalia is requesting first-time access to the program as part of the agency’s annual review of AGOA country eligibility. Representatives for several sub-Saharan African countries, as well as major U.S. industry groups and other stakeholders, outlined their priorities for the review in comments to the AGOA Implementation Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff...

Mexico: U.S. corn export levels undermine Washington’s USMCA case

Rising levels of U.S. white corn exports to Mexico undermine Washington’s claims that the country’s restrictions on genetically engineered corn are threatening trade, Mexico says in a new submission to a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement dispute settlement panel. According to the submission , dated May 28 and made public by the USMCA Secretariat on Wednesday, U.S. white corn exports rebounded this year following a drop in 2023 that Mexico says was driven by a change in tariff levels – not by its...

Coons: AGOA renewal prospects ‘positive’ but not assured

Prospects for renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act are looking up despite some broader headwinds on trade legislation, according to Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), who says lawmakers must not let “other fights” get in the way of reauthorizing the trade preference program by the end of this year. During an event at the Wilson Center, Coons described prospects for AGOA’s renewal as “positive” following recent hearings on Capitol Hill as well as a discussion earlier on Tuesday with Senate...

Business groups press for more time to comment on China tariff changes

A broad coalition of business groups is calling on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to provide more time to comment on the agency’s proposed modifications to tariffs on Chinese goods due to the complexity of the changes. USTR last month invited stakeholders to give feedback on its plans to modify tariffs applied to applied to Chinese goods under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The proposed changes, which followed a mandatory four-year review of the Trump-era...

Canada’s trade minister: USMCA up for review – not renegotiation – in 2026

An upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will provide a “checkpoint” to ensure the deal remains up to date, Canada’s trade minister said on Thursday, pushing back on suggestions that the first-of-its-kind review could turn into a renegotiation. “This joint review process is not a renegotiation, but rather it's a focused checkpoint to ensure that CUSMA remains relevant and continues to strengthen our region's competitiveness and resilience, all while serving Canada's interests,” Canadian Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and...

Ways & Means trade subcommittee eyes AGOA renewal, updates

House lawmakers in both parties on Wednesday voiced strong support for renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act before it expires next year, committing to improve the two-decade-old trade preference program while hashing out the terms of that extension. The Ways & Means trade subcommittee addressed AGOA, as well as preference programs with Haiti that also are set to expire next year, during a hearing described by Chair Adrian Smith (R-NE) as a “continuation of a deliberate Ways and Means...

Sen. Lankford: U.S. must engage partners on critical minerals trade

The U.S. must pursue long-lasting trade partnerships with trusted countries to ensure secure supplies of critical minerals and reduce China’s “leverage,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said on Tuesday. Lankford, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, spoke about critical minerals as a key element of U.S. energy security during an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trade partnerships with trusted allies, he said, will be key to filling a gap between demand for critical minerals and...

Wyden presses BMW for ‘straight answers’ on links to banned supplier

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) is demanding detailed information from BMW about its due diligence practices and its use of parts from a supplier alleged to use forced labor. Democratic committee staff members since late 2022 have been probing automakers’ supply chains following a report by researchers at Sheffield Hallam University that alleged links between some automakers and suppliers that use forced labor in the Uyghur region of China. In a report on that effort released last month,...

ITC votes to continue probes into solar imports from Southeast Asia

The U.S. International Trade Commission has preliminarily determined that solar cells and panels imported from four countries in Southeast Asia are harming the U.S. industry. The ITC and the Commerce Department have been investigating imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam following petitions filed earlier this year by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, a group that represents seven domestic manufacturers. The petitions allege that unfairly priced and subsidized imports from...

Sources: Market status a top ask for Vietnam ahead of U.S. partnership upgrade

A change in how the Commerce Department treats Vietnam’s economy for the purposes of administering U.S. antidumping duties was a top priority for Hanoi in discussions with Washington that led the two countries last year to elevate their bilateral relationship, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade ahead of a final decision by the U.S. due next month. Commerce since 2002 has treated Vietnam as a “non-market economy,” a label that generally leads to higher duties in dumping cases. According to an...

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