USTR

The U.S. should seek to expand reciprocal tariff-free treatment for aerospace and defense products in bilateral trade deals, 24 Republican lawmakers have told U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. U.S. aerospace exports enjoy tariff-free treatment in more than 50 countries pursuant to the 1979 Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, which has 33 signatories and 25 observers, as the lawmakers note in a June 17 letter to Greer. The agreement has propelled a significant trade surplus for the U.S. in aerospace...

Too many World Trade Organization members are failing to meet their transparency obligations and should be held accountable, President Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. delegation to the WTO has told lawmakers, citing the issue as a priority for him if confirmed. Joseph Barloon, Trump’s nominee deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. ambassador to the WTO, submitted answers to questions for the record following his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month. In response to questions from...

Guatemala views the reestablishment of Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement protections as critical for several industry sectors to regain parity with Mexican exporters that have been able to avoid many new U.S. tariffs through exclusions for goods produced under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a prominent academic economist in the country says. “We got the 10 percent tariffs, and the Mexicans got nothing. And in many of our main exports, we compete … head-to-head with Mexico,” Hugo Maul, a professor of...

The U.S. and China on Tuesday concluded two days of talks in London by agreeing “in principle” to stick with a deal hammered out in Geneva earlier this month, according to reports that say the new understanding could lead the U.S. to soften some chip controls and China to ease some restrictions on rare earths exports. Li Chenggang, international trade negotiator for China’s Ministry of Commerce, told reporters in London that the talks with his U.S. counterparts were “in-depth and...

A group of 17 Republican House lawmakers is asking the Trump administration to “prioritize” boosting market access in India for certain U.S. agricultural products, citing India’s “willingness” to pursue such talks with the U.S. In a May 29 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, which was released publicly this week, the lawmakers push specifically for “improved market access for U.S. ethanol, distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and soybean meal” as a part of the bilateral negotiations spurred by...

Editor's note: This story has been updated with remarks from President Trump. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday held a call focused almost entirely on trade, including China’s restrictions on rare earths exports and the trade détente the U.S. and China reached last month in Geneva, Trump said. “I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal,” he...

Trade talks with the European Union are moving apace following a “constructive” meeting with European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday. “Last week, the European Union provided the United States with a credible starting point for discussions on reciprocal trade, and I am pleased that negotiations are advancing quickly,” Greer said in a statement following the meeting, held on the sidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development trade ministerial in Paris. “Today’s...