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.
The National Association of Manufacturers CEO is calling on the Biden administration to "act as quickly as possible to finalize and publicize [its China] strategy. Such a clear, robust strategy on China, including U.S.-China trade, would be critical in bolstering manufacturers’ efforts to retain and hire American workers, invest in domestic operations and adjust supply chains, and providing meaningful opportunities for manufacturers to seek targeted relief from broad application of Section 301 tariffs."
The National Foreign Trade Council announced that NFTC Vice President Jake Colvin will become the NFTC president on Oct. 1, replacing Rufus Yerxa. “I am thrilled that the NFTC Board has selected Jake Colvin as the next President,” Rufus Yerxa said. “Jake has been a huge asset to the organization for many years and nobody else knows its mission better." Yerxa said he relied on Colvin as the group worked on the issues of e-commerce, World Trade Organization reform, and China issues. "I have no doubt that NFTC’s leadership and influence in these and other areas will continue growing through Jake’s efforts.”
China's ambassador said that if the Senate's China package or the EAGLE Act that passed the House become law, " they will hijack China-U.S. relations and gravely damage America's own interests." Qin Gang, who spoke at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Aug. 31, said these bills were formed out of misunderstanding China, disinformation about China, and "no knowledge."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave advice to Congress in July and August on how to shape legislation that Congress is calling a "polluter import fee," which most call a carbon border adjustment tax. On Sept. 2, it published its reaction to one bill on the table, the Coons-Peters bill, although Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has not said that the Coons bill will be the starting point for legislation he wishes to advance as part of the "soft infrastructure package" Congress is trying to write this fall (see 2108100031). Just before leaving for the August recess, Wyden said that the Senate was far from a concrete proposal, and that any proposal must get the support of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Manchin represents a state where coal mining is the third-largest industry.
Dawn Shackleford, the assistant U.S. trade representative for the World Trade Organization and multilateral affairs, has been chosen to be assistant USTR for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, which covers Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands, in addition to Southeast Asia. "Dawn has demonstrated great skill and expertise across multiple positions at USTR,” USTR Katherine Tai said. “Her diplomatic experience and judgement will be invaluable as we engage our trading partners and resume our work to enhance U.S. economic cooperation in Southeast Asia and across the Pacific.” Shackleford was the lead negotiator on the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the lead negotiator for customs and trade facilitation in European trade talks that faltered. She joined USTR in 2004, after working at the Pentagon. Kent Shigetomi will serve as acting assistant USTR for WTO and multilateral affairs.
The U.S. is now facing formal complaints from both Mexico and Canada over how it's calculating regional value content in the auto rules of origin under USMCA. Canada formally joined Mexico's call for consultations, it announced Aug. 26. Canada says that, like Mexico, it does not agree "with the interpretation of the United States of the relationship between the core parts and vehicle regional value content calculations."