U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that she expressed strong support for Lithuania "in the face of economic coercion" during a call with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis Jan. 7, and that the European Union and U.S. should work together to address coercive economic tactics "through various avenues, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council" (see 2201060034). The readout of the call also said they discussed steel and aluminum excess capacity. The U.S. replaced its tariffs on EU exporters in those sectors with tariff rate quotas that will last five years; it is Europe's goal to return to trade as it was before the Section 232 action.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a year-end video, pointed to a number of settlements during 2021 that both bolstered America's relationships with its allies and promoted the fight against climate change. She pointed to the settlement of a Section 337 case between two South Korean battery makers that allowed for a Georgia plant to open (see 2104120004); the settlement of the 17-year dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing (see 2106150021 and 2106170025); and the agreement between the European Union and the U.S. to replace Section 232 tariffs with a quota system (see 2111010039).
Fourteen pro-trade House Democrats are asking Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to quickly advance discussions on how tariffs on Japanese and British steel and aluminum could be lifted. "[D]ownstream users continue to face astonishingly high prices in steel and aluminum," wrote the group, which is led by Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state.
The Commerce Department published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including a new mention of an export control rule for crime-control items and a rule that would reorganize provisions of the foreign direct product rule in federal regulations.
U.S. pork exports to Mexico rebounded this year and are expected to continue improving in 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Nov. 19. Mexico was the top international destination for U.S. pork in the second quarter of 2021, USDA said, adding that shipments reached record highs in August and September. The turnaround comes after several years of lagging pork exports to Mexico, partly caused by Mexican retaliatory duties in response to the U.S.’s Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. Although the U.S. repealed its tariffs in 2019, recovery for the U.S. pork industry was slow due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which “quickly began to wreak havoc and weigh on pork shipments to Mexico,” USDA said. The agency said pent-up consumer demand, spilling over into next year, “should allow U.S. exports to return to the rising trend seen before the pandemic.”
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Deputy USTR Sarah Bianchi stressed the importance of rapidly resolving trade concerns when they arise through the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and talked about the president's vision for a new economic framework in the Indo-Pacific when they talked with Korea's trade minister, Yeo Han-koo. They agreed to communicate better to support trade facilitation, and to deal with supply chain challenges, emerging technologies and digital trade. According to the U.S. summary of the visit, Tai talked about the challenge posed by market-distorting excess capacity in steel and aluminum. According to the Korea Herald, quoting the Korean trade ministry, Korea asked for the chance to change the tariff rate quotas it earlier agreed to on steel. "We once again delivered our stance and concerns regarding the Section 232 rules, and demanded that the two sides begin negotiations at an early date," the ministry said in a statement. Tai and Yeo also heard from industry representatives on supply chain resiliency and how to foster more sustainable trade.
The Tariff Reform Coalition, which includes trade associations representing major metal consumers such as automakers, boat manufacturers, the beer industry and machinists, as well as exporters hurt by retaliatory tariffs, sent a letter to senators asking them to support the Section 232 tariff reform bill re-introduced this month by Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Mark Warner, D-Va. The Oct. 19 letter, signed by 27 trade groups, said that the bill (see 2110050040) would ensure "that all national interests are taken into account prior to the imposition of tariffs or quotas. These interests were not properly weighed in the case of steel and aluminum and our industries are still reeling from the effects of these tariffs.... Invoking national security as a justification to protect a few industries, to the detriment of countless others, sets a bad example for the rest of the world and opens the door for other countries to take similar actions." They noted that if the bill becomes law, and then if Congress does not approve the steel and aluminum tariffs within 75 days, they would be repealed.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she talked about "ongoing efforts to address global overcapacity in the steel and aluminum sectors and shared challenges posed by non-market economies" when she met with her European Union counterpart on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Sorrento, Italy. The EU did not issue its own readout of the meeting, but Valdis Dombrovskis tweeted, "Met [the] USTR, Ambassador Tai, to continue our discussions on finding a settlement on the Trump steel & aluminium tariffs #232. The work continues." He has previously said that an agreement on Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum has to be reached by early November in order to prevent retaliatory tariffs from doubling on Dec. 1. Those retaliatory tariffs have hurt the export of American spirits.
Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that while what he called the "food fight between Democrats" is preventing legislation from moving this year, "this next year would be an opportune time to have a conversation about [Section 232 reform] in a bipartisan way." Brady, who was responding to a question during a call with reporters Oct. 6, said he'd like to be a part of that conversation about the use of national security tariffs and Congress's role in setting tariffs.
European Union Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters that because of the work that needs to happen within the EU to get it done before retaliatory tariffs are scheduled to double, the U.S. and the EU need to reach an agreement by the beginning of November. Tariffs on the retaliation list are supposed to double on Dec. 1. Dombrovskis said this on Bloomberg TV; he also suggested to reporters that the import and export monitoring that was part of the removal of steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico is something that the EU is open to.