U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the future economic relationship with China has to be navigated in the context of the U.S. needing "a thriving economy that is based on market competition principles. How do we accomplish this, given that the second-largest economy in the world operates on a very, very different system ... and makes its own decisions?"

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jayme White, speaking during a panel discussion with representatives from USMCA partners, said the NAFTA rewrite's credibility is on the line if enforcement is weak. White, who discussed USMCA implementation on a Brookings Institution panel along with a Canadian minister and a Mexican senator who leads that body's Special Committee for USMCA Implementation, said if promises on environmental rules, labor standards and energy aren't fulfilled, workers will say: "Well, you don't enforce it."

The Biden administration won't overturn a limited exclusion order blocking the import of Apple Watches that the ITC found infringe on patents owned by AliveCor, a spokesperson in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative confirmed. AliveCor had said that the USTR told it the administration would not move to block the order during the 60-day presidential review period (see 2302210064). According to AliveCor, this is the first-ever limited exclusion order against Apple to clear presidential review, although the Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently ruled the underlying patents were invalid. An Apple spokesperson said the exclusion order will have no practical impact as enforcement is on hold pending AliveCor’s appeal of the PTAB ruling to the Federal Circuit.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai hailed the introduction in Mexico of a resolution that would ban the importation of merchandise made with forced labor, calling it an "important step forward." Tai said once it passes, it will help North American countries tackle transshipment.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told Vietnam;s Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien that she wants to intensify bilateral economic ties through the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). The two said they would work on labor reforms, the environment, digital trade, agriculture and intellectual property. The two also talked about progress in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, according to a readout of the meeting.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is amending two exclusions from Section 301 tariffs to correct the description of one and conform the tariff number to recent tariff schedule changes of the other, it said in a notice. The affected exclusions are found at U.S. Notes 20(ttt)(iv)(42) and 20(ttt)(iii)(36) to subchapter III of Chapter 99. Both exclusions were recently extended through September 2023 (see 2212160052).

Japan brought up issues it has around the Inflation Reduction Act, while the U.S. asked Japan to increase its use of ethanol and have better regulatory transparency for "certain products and services," according to a readout of a trade discussion between the two countries released Feb. 3 by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The U.S. requested a second dispute panel over Canada's dairy tariff-rate-quota measures, and under USMCA, that panel will automatically be formed. The U.S. says Canada's revisions to its TRQs after it lost a case "impose new conditions effectively prohibiting retailers, food service operators, and other types of importers from utilizing TRQ allocations. Through these measures, Canada undermines the market access it agreed to provide in the USMCA."

After getting public pressure from House Democrats on labor practices at Manufacturas VU, a Michigan-headquartered supplier of interior automotive trims, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has opened a second rapid response request with Mexico about what's happening at the plant in Piedras Negras.

In a joint statement after the second annual deputies' meeting for the NAFTA successor, U.S., Mexican and Canadian officials said they talked about the concrete steps needed to ensure that goods made with forced labor cannot be imported into Mexico, Canada or the U.S.