The U.S. trade war with China and the stalled revision of NAFTA have severely limited their export markets, filling their warehouses with unmovable products and slashing their revenues, farmers said during a House hearing on the state of the farm economy. The farmers called for a quick resolution of trade disputes with China and ratification of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and suggested another market facilitation program similar to the relief package the Trump administration authorized in 2018 to aid farmers suffering from ongoing sparring over tariffs.
China will take “necessary countermeasures” if the U.S. follows through on threats to increase tariffs on Chinese goods, according to an unofficial translation of a statement released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on May 8. “The escalation of trade friction is not in the interests of the people of the two countries and the people of the world,” the statement said. “The Chinese side deeply regrets that if the US tariff measures are implemented, China will have to take necessary countermeasures.”
While the Chinese have not levied tariffs on U.S. aircraft, the top manufactured good China imports from the U.S., that could change if President Donald Trump follows through on his May 5 threat to hike 10 percent tariffs to 25 percent, one expert believes. Edward Alden, a trade expert and professor at Western Washington University, said that the Chinese have been seriously negotiating for five months, and if the U.S. walks away, they will hunker down for a long, protracted trade war. They could levy tariffs on airplanes, increase customs hassles for those U.S. firms exporting goods to China and create geopolitical trouble for the U.S.
China will still send a delegation to meet with U.S. negotiators on a possible deal to resolve trade issues between the two countries, despite an announcement by President Donald Trump on May 5 to increase Section 301 tariffs against the country, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman. Trump tweeted that the U.S. will increase the current 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in goods to 25 percent on May 10, and may impose additional Section 301 tariffs on over $300 billion in Chinese exports.
Dozens of agriculture trade groups and companies wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to tell him that "the U.S. food and agriculture industry is increasingly disadvantaged by competing regional and bilateral agreements with Japan that have already been implemented, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EU-Japan EPA)."
The European Council approved a negotiating mandate for trade talks with the U.S., but says it will not finish a free-trade agreement until the steel and aluminum tariffs on its member countries are lifted. The mandate, which was approved April 15, excludes agricultural trade from the talks.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 1-5 in case they were missed.
President Donald Trump bemoaned what he said are unfair trade practices levied against the U.S. by “many countries,” singling out and criticizing India while referring to its trade practices as “stupid trade.” Trump, speaking at a Republican Jewish Coalition Leadership meeting on April 6 in Las Vegas, accused India of imposing 100 percent tariffs on imports from the U.S. “Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi is charging us over 100 percent for many things,” Trump said. “We’re charging them nothing for similar or the same products, and I have senators who say you can’t do that. It’s not free trade ... it's stupid trade.” India has repeatedly delayed retaliatory tariffs on goods imported from the U.S. -- with the most recent delay coming April 1 (see 1904010010) -- in response to U.S.’s Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. During the rally, Trump also advocated for additional unspecified tariffs while accusing several unnamed countries of “charging us 200 and 250 and 300 percent” tariffs. “And we charge them nothing,” he said. “It’s OK to charge them something.”
The U.S. continues to pursue “vigorous engagement” with China to “increase the benefits” that U.S. businesses, service providers and consumers “derive from trade and economic ties” with the Chinese, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in its annual report on global foreign trade barriers (see 1904010045). China’s trade practices “in several specific areas,” especially forced technology transfer and the Made in China 2025 industrial program, continue to “cause particular concern” for U.S. “stakeholders,” USTR said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer touched on India’s potential retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. and criticized the country’s “significant tariff and nontariff barriers” in the 2019 National Trade Estimate on Foreign Trade Barriers. The 540-page report, released March 29, said India’s tariff barriers “impede imports of U.S. products into India” and was critical of India’s “complex” customs system and failure to “observe transparency requirements.”