European Union Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, in a Der Spiegel interview published April 10, said that the EU has offered to lift its retaliatory tariffs in response to 25% tariffs on EU steel and 10% tariffs on EU aluminum, while they try to resolve the overcapacity problem. “We have proposed suspending all mutual tariffs for six months in order to reach a negotiated solution,” Dombrovskis said, according to the EU press office in Washington. “This would create a necessary breathing space for industries and workers on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.
The U.S.-Bangladesh Business Council aims to increase trade between the two countries, as Bangladesh is expected to graduate from the least-developed countries list by 2026. The U.S. is the largest importer of Bangladeshi products, and imported not quite $7 billion in 2019, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. A launch program hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that Bangladesh imported more than $1 billion in American agricultural products.
Bloomberg News is reporting that Sarah Bianchi, a senior managing director at Evercore ISI International, is being considered for deputy U.S. trade representative, according to anonymous sources. Bianchi, who once served as director of policy for Vice President Joe Biden, is still being vetted, the sources said. The story did not say which deputy job Bianchi would be put in, but a commissioner for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission tweeted that she would be in charge of China.
Although many American liquor exports received a reprieve with the lifting of Boeing tariffs in Europe, bourbon and other American whiskeys continue to face a 25% punitive tariff in the European Union and the United Kingdom because of Section 232 tariffs on those countries' steel and aluminum exports. At the time the tariffs were imposed, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was majority leader, so the product choice was considered to create additional pressure on the administration to reverse the action.
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U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a video call April 1 with Vietnam's trade minister, Tran Tuan Anh, “highlighted the Biden Administration’s concerns about currency practices covered in the ongoing Section 301 investigation,” according to a readout of the call. In a tweet after the call, Tai said, “I ... urged Vietnam to address U.S. concerns on currency practices covered in the Section 301 investigation.” Tai said the two committed to increased collaboration, and plan to hold a meeting later this year under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement “to assess progress made in strengthening the trade relationship and in resolving outstanding bilateral issues,” which also include agricultural market access, digital trade and illegal timber trafficking.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Kenya's trade minister, Betty Maina, talked about the bilateral negotiations conducted during the previous administration, according to a readout of the April 1 call. “Ambassador Tai highlighted her ongoing review of the negotiations to ensure that any agreement aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s Build Back Better agenda,” the summary said. Maina tweeted, “It was a great pleasure to meet with @AmbassadorTai the United States Trade Representative to take stock of our strategic relationship and trade. I welcome the invitation to work together on shaping mutually beneficial trade relations between Africa and the US post [African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)].”
Four intellectual property industry groups, in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, voiced their support for the U.S.'s opposition to the TRIPS waiver at the World Trade Organization. The American Intellectual Property Law Association, Intellectual Property Owners Association, the Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada) Inc. and the New York Intellectual Property Law Association said they wrote to protect the IP rights of their members that have incentivized the innovations that “allowed us to combat COVID-19 and continues to do so.” The TRIPS waiver would waive IP rights relating to the “prevention, containment or treatment” of the novel coronavirus for a limited period of time. The industry groups argue that it has been IP itself that has allowed for life-saving innovations and facilitated the sharing of technical information with appropriate protections. They also suggest that they know of no data that shows IP rights are restricting vaccine development.
Boeing this week urged the U.S. to separate trade disputes and human rights issues when dealing with China, saying more trade restrictions could cause the plane maker to cede Chinese market share to European competitors. “We cannot afford to be locked out of that market,” CEO Dave Calhoun told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit March 31, Reuters reported. “Our competitor will jump right in.”
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai held a video call with Turkey's trade minister, Ruhsar Pekcan. Pekcan apparently brought up Section 232 tariffs on Turkish steel, and according to the U.S. readout, Tai and Pekcan talked about ways to coordinate on “the global overcapacity of steel and aluminum.” Tai also discussed with Pekcan how to coordinate on digital services taxation, and opportunities to increase market access for U.S goods in Turkey and vice versa.