U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said countries need to find "pragmatic solutions to increase vaccine production," during a Jan. 21 video call with 30 other trade ministers from the European Union, China, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Jamaica, the United Kingdom and other countries. The World Trade Organization has been struggling to agree on how trade laws could be eased to increase distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments to developing countries. Tai's readout of the call also said there's an opportunity to reach a conclusion to the fisheries subsidies negotiations, but she wants there to be "an ambitious agreement that improves the status quo." She also said the WTO needs to tackle agriculture issues.

At a virtual World Economic Forum, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the director-general of the World Trade Organization and CEOs in manufacturing and shipping said traders will change the ways they manage supply chains because of lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Tai said "the pandemic in particular has laid bare vulnerabilities in this version of globalization that we have and existing supply chains that we all feel strongly that we need to address."

After the first USMCA deputies meeting, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. issued a joint statement saying that they are scrutinizing the implementation of the prohibition on importing goods made with forced labor. They also discussed environmental law enforcement cooperation, and training planned this year for small businesses so they can access the treaty's benefits. All said "though there have been challenges, progress continues to be made under the Agreement."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council should not be seen as a prelude to reentering talks for a comprehensive trade agreement, and she threw cold water on the idea of a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom as well.

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.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative is seeking applicants for the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa for the four-year term that begins in March. Applicants should have knowledge on U.S-Africa trade, including under the African Growth and Opportunity Act; the government is interested in hearing from people with expertise in trade facilitation; sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures and technical barriers to trade; trade capacity building; constraints to trade; investment treaty negotiations; and implementation of World Trade Organization agreements. Applicants can be from industry or services businesses, organized labor, agriculture, non-profit development organizations or academia. Members who are selected will advise USTR on negotiating objectives, the impact of trade agreements, and fulfilling the objectives of AGOA. USTR is seeking to have a diverse committee, not just by demographics, but also by region of the country, the size of the organization the member represents, sectors and points of view.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, after speaking with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis Jan. 5, said that the U.S. supports Lithuania as it faces economic coercion from China, and that the U.S. wants to work with the European Union "to address coercive diplomatic and economic behavior. They discussed the importance to addressing our shared challenges through a close, transatlantic partnership that embraces and reflects U.S. and EU jointly-held values, which can be supported in part through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council." China stopped allowing Lithuanian goods to enter China after Lithuania publicly supported Taiwan's independence (see 2112090012).

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).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will publish a Federal Register notice Dec. 27 that describes what proportion of certain tariff rate quotas will be allocated to the United Kingdom since it has left the European Union. The office published changes to the TRQs in July but has discovered some errors in that notice, in chapters four and 24. In addition, it is setting the TRQs for butter, cream and sour cream for 2022 for both the EU and the U.K. The changes, as modified by the correction notice, become effective Jan. 1, 2022.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments by Dec. 30 on its proposal to split one of the trade advisory committees into two committees -- one for critical minerals and nonferrous metals, and one for forest products and building materials.The office also intends to establish a committee of chairs of the trade advisory committees to "facilitate cross-sharing of information and provide a powerful tool to gather timely cross-cutting input across sectors." Comments may be made at docket number USTR-2021-2022 on regulations.gov.