Treasury Department

The U.S. and India on Friday extended through June 30 a deal that suspended the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s Section 301 investigation into New Delhi’s e-commerce equalization levy, USTR and the Treasury Department announced. The deal, which expired at the end of March, was extended from April 1 to June 30 “In light of the continuing multilateral negotiations” of the Organization for Economic Development’s Inclusive Framework, according to a statement from Treasury and USTR. The OECD talks aim...

A proposed rule outlining an outbound investment review mechanism published by the Treasury Department on Friday expands on which transactions in three sensitive technology sectors must be notified and, potentially, restricted if U.S. investments are headed toward countries of concern. President Biden last August signed an executive order instructing Treasury to formulate notification requirements and prohibitions for U.S. investments to countries of concern, namely China, in the semiconductor, AI and quantum information technology sectors. As part of that process, Treasury...

The Treasury Department has put Japan back on its monitoring list of trading partners with currency practices it says warrant closer analysis, the agency announced on Thursday. Treasury released its latest report to Congress on the “ Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners ,” which includes the monitoring list. Japan had been a mainstay on the list from April 2016 until November 2022, meeting two of the three criteria Treasury assess in identifying currency manipulators. Tokyo regularly...

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Thursday introduced a resolution to discount final Treasury Department guidance for the electric vehicle tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-WV) and five other senators on Thursday introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval that, if enacted, would prevent the latest EV tax credit guidance from entering into force. Senate Finance Committee member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Marco...

The Biden administration has finalized guidance on electric vehicle tax credit rules crafted to lessen dependencies on China, adding a minerals tracing test and easing a rule for graphite as producers adjust their supply chains. A final rule issued by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, set to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, addresses critical minerals and battery sourcing requirements added to U.S. electric vehicle tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. It comes along...

Two House lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill that would require the Energy Department to establish a system to trace critical materials in battery supply chains, including data on the origin of various inputs and their environmental impact. The “ Critical Material Transparency and Reporting of Advanced Clean Energy Act ,” introduced by Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Garret Graves (R-LA), would direct DOE to develop a “digital battery identification system” to track the “full material journey of each battery...

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s decision to withdraw support for digital trade proposals at the World Trade Organization contradicts the Treasury Department’s goals in international tax negotiations, several Republican members of the House Ways & Means Committee charged this week. USTR in October withdrew support for proposals in plurilateral e-commerce talks at the WTO, including a ban on data localization. But foreign data localization policies incentivize U.S. companies to invest abroad, Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) told Treasury Secretary...

Chinese officials have acknowledged concerns voiced by the U.S. and others about overcapacity in green technology industries, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week, though Chinese government officials contend the world needs China’s production to fuel a more climate-friendly economy. Yellen was in China earlier this month, repeatedly raising U.S. concerns about Chinese overcapacity and striking an agreement to launch a dialogue on balanced growth. On Thursday, the Treasury secretary claimed Chinese officials “have actually acknowledged the problem and in...

A new United Nations committee opposed by the U.S. will meet in New York this week to discuss international tax matters in proceedings that could overlap with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s attempt to deal with the proliferation of digital services taxes and complicate its completion, according to analysts. The UN Ad Hoc Tax Committee, established last December, on Friday will begin the process of crafting its terms of reference. Analysts tell Inside U.S. Trade the panel...