A top official in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that opposition to extending a moratorium on tariffs on sales of intangible goods has surfaced before, but that the e-commerce moratorium has been renewed at every World Trade Organization ministerial conference since 1998. "There are a few countries, despite benefiting from e-commerce and digital trade, who continue to resist an extension of the moratorium," she said, but most countries, including in the developing world, see the tariff-free status as important.
A German think tank specialist in semiconductors' value chain vulnerabilities told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission he's concerned that the policy focus on bringing more production back to either the EU or the U.S. won't achieve its aims because policymakers aren't sure what those aims are.
President Joe Biden, speaking at the Port of Los Angeles, praised the collaborative work of port officials and workers and the government to break through logjams, and partly blamed foreign-owned shipping companies for rising prices.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is proposing a limited carbon tax on firms that are dirtier than average in about a dozen industries, and a carbon border tax on imports in those industries that are also above those benchmarks. The fee would start in 2024, for fossil fuel producers, refiners of petroleum products, petrochemicals manufacturers, fertilizer producers, hydrogen producers, adipic acid processors, cement producers, iron and steelmakers, aluminum producers, glass producers, pulp and paper plants, and ethanol producers. According to a press release from Whitehouse.
A week before U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai heads to Geneva for the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference, she said she's excited for what the meeting could bring, though she avoided predicting that either an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines would be approved, or that the 20-year fisheries negotiations would be closed.
The U.S. has brought another rapid response request, this time over an alleged violation of worker rights at the Teksid Hierro de Mexico plant in Frontera, Mexico. According to the parent company's website, the plant makes iron castings used in heavy trucks made by Volvo, Cummins, Mack Trucks and others. The owner of the company is Stellantis, the conglomerate that owns the Chrysler brand.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Koji Tomita signed an agreement that will change the beef safeguard trigger under the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement, USTR announced June 2, but the date the changes will come into force is still not known. "[B]oth countries will follow their respective domestic procedures in order for the updated agreement to enter into force," a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service release said.
The Federal Railroad Administration is going to spend $368 million across 46 projects, some of which are aimed at strengthening supply chains, it said. "Americans deserve a world-class rail system that allows people and goods to get where they need to go more quickly and affordably, while reducing traffic and pollution on our roads," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. "We're proud to award these grants to improve passenger rail for riders and strengthen the freight rail that makes our supply chains and our economy work."
Mexico announced that it will examine whether the Panasonic Automotive Systems plant in Reynosa violated the rights of its workers (see 2205180061) under the provisions of the USMCA.
The U.S. announced it is starting negotiations with Taiwan on trade facilitation, sanitary and photosanitary regulations for agricultural imports, digital trade, and coordinating to confront non-market practices. The U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade is similar to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in its scope, but Taiwan was not invited to join IPEF negotiations.