The top Democrat on the House Select Committee on China, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, said Wall Street and other investors want the government to provide a negative list they can hand off to their compliance teams.
Trade ministers from Japan, the U.S., the EU, the U.K., France, Canada, Germany and Italy said they will work to reach an agreement on World Trade Organization reform "with the view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024." The binding appellate level of dispute settlement at the WTO has been defunct since late 2019, because the U.S. blocked all appointments to the appellate body.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she discussed the next steps for negotiations on the global arrangement on steel and aluminum with her EU counterpart, Valdis Dombrovskis, and said she updated France's Foreign Trade Minister Olivier Becht on the negotiations. Her Oct. 28 readout of the meeting with Becht said she "noted the importance of both sides continuing to work together in a productive manner over the next several months. She reiterated the United States’ commitment to remain at the negotiating table in order to reach a meaningful outcome."
For all the talk of a climate club, where trade among countries inside the club is privileged, panelists at the Niskanen Center said the failure of the U.S. and the EU to reach an agreement on green steel in two years of talking shows how far off that possibility is.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine changed export compliance dramatically, said Howard Mendelsohn, chief client officer for Kharon, "where the onus is on industry like it’s never been before to sort of find a way to be proactive." Mendelsohn, whose firm provides risk intelligence to businesses, spoke at an OCR Services trade compliance conference Oct. 17 in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C. He said exporters have to be proactive on blocking reports and applying for licenses, and importers have to find another supplier.
The EU's top trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, said EU and U.S. negotiators haven't given up on their Oct. 31 deadline to address both non-market overcapacity in steel and aluminum and ways to privilege trade in cleaner metals.
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., one of the less hawkish members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, bemoaned the fact that the original title of the committee, which talked about strategic competition, has been forgotten.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he spoke candidly with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a trip to Shanghai, saying China needs to stop unfair treatment of U.S. firms with operations in China.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is asking the Biden administration to strengthen the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), concerned that the aim has moved from an on-paper agreement to a mere forum.
A large group of House members, including some of the most powerful Republicans in the chamber, are asking the U.S. trade representative to tell the EU to designate the U.S. as a "low-risk" country under its new deforestation-free regulation. Exporters of wood products must be in compliance with the law beginning Jan. 1, 2025.