In reaction to news that China has formally asked to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (see 2109170052), TPP's two greatest champions in the Senate said negotiations on trade with Asian allies must resume. Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, issued a joint statement Sept. 20: “It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that China is taking steps to strengthen their trade powers across the globe. For quite some time, we have been warning about China’s subtle yet deliberate moves to join the CPTPP -- the very trade pact crafted to counter China’s trade influence that the United States mistakenly walked away from. And last week, we saw them take an affirmative step in that troubling direction. We’ve long believed that United States trade leadership is critical for our country’s economy and national security -- and it’s clear that China is not waiting to assert itself in the region. The U.S. cannot afford to continue waiting in the hallway -- we must get our seat back at the table to re-engage our Asia Pacific allies in trade.”
Customs brokers in Washington to lobby for the Customs Business Fairness Act renewal should also talk about the importance of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America transportation committee members told the annual government affairs conference attendees, as a way to fight excessive detention and demurrage fees.
A day after the White House's primary spokesperson said that if there's an opportunity to renegotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that's a discussion the U.S. could join, a former White House trade negotiator said the path to reentering the TPP is so steep that he doesn't think it's likely in the next few years.
The legislative language for a proposed change to the treatment of excise tax drawback claims on exported tobacco would make such claims ineligible not just going forward (see 2109130038), but also would disallow claims filed since Dec. 18, 2018. That is the date that CBP issued a final rule saying that such claims were not allowed. However, the prohibition did not take effect until Feb. 19, 2019, because of the 60-day waiting period after the rule's publication (see 1908300032). The final rule was overturned in court, so some exporters have been collecting substitution drawback on these goods -- or as the government calls it, "double drawback," since the case was won.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says that although his initial list of pay-fors did not include any taxes on tobacco, he thinks the House Ways and Means Committee proposal is worthy of being included on what he called "a menu of options" to give Democratic senators choices. "I happen to think that this is an important idea, they're talking, I gather, at e-cigarettes," he said during a Capitol hallway interview.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai met with Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo Sept. 13, and in a summary of that meeting, she said she emphasized the importance of advancing workers' rights through the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, as well as using KORUS to resolve bilateral issues.
The Biden administration announced it is nominating Marisa Lago to serve as the undersecretary of commerce for international trade, a position that directs the International Trade Administration, which has an annual budget of about $483 million. Lago is the director of the New York City Department of City Planning, and served in the Obama administration as the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for international markets and development. If confirmed by the Senate, she would replace the acting undersecretary, Diane Farrell.
In a strategic meeting called a high-level economic dialogue, Mexico and the U.S. talked about ways to facilitate the movement of goods at the border and ways to use Mexico in a North American-centric semiconductor supply chain, officials said after the Sept. 9 meeting. Mexico could become a place for packaging and testing chips, Mexico's Economy Secretary Tatiana Clouthier said at a press conference at the Mexican Embassy.
Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee, including Chairman David Scott, D-Ga., told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and the agriculture secretary that they are dissatisfied with progress toward dismantling trade barriers to biotech crops in China and Mexico. Their letter, signed by eight committee members, says that when countries like China and Mexico don't allow the imports of these crops, that decision has "a chilling effect on global adoption and commercialization of new technologies. As a result, farmers at home and abroad are forced to choose between innovative technologies or access to foreign markets."
Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was asked at his Sept. 2 press conference if it would be better to reach an agreement among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico on the question of the interpretation of auto rules of origin. López Obrador said.that it would be better to reach agreement without having to convene a dispute settlement panel, and added, "I don't think it will go that far; an agreement is to be reached soon." The countries could also try mediation or conciliation instead of a panel if consultations are unsuccessful.