U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, speaking Aug. 24 to other G-20 trade ministers, said the U.S. wants to reform the World Trade Organization by improving compliance with -- and enforcement of -- WTO members' commitments, "restoring efficacy to the negotiating arm; ... equipping the Membership to address unfair practices and global market distortions, and putting the organization on the footing to promote trade policies that build resilience and address current global challenges."
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, after a meeting with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis in Jaipur, India, said she and her EU counterpart asked their negotiating teams to hold sessions on both a global arrangement on sustainable steel and aluminum and on a critical minerals agreement "with an intensified pace."
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai met with World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Jaipur, India, ahead of the G-20 Trade and Investment Ministers' Meeting, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. The readout said Tai discussed U.S. support for the WTO and the 13th Ministerial Conference, set to take place in late February next year. Agreeing to remain in "close coordination" in the coming months, Tai and Okonjo-Iweala expressed their desire to make MC13 "the WTO's first reform ministerial."
Mexico raised tariffs for imports of steel and other items from non-free trade agreement countries, the country announced Aug 16, according to an unofficial translation. The increased tariffs -- which could subject certain products to duties "of up to 25%," the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said -- will apply to merchandise from certain “strategic industries,” including steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, aluminum, tires, plastics, glass and ceramics.
The U.S. has initiated the formation of a dispute settlement panel over Mexico's decree to not allow biotech corn for tortillas and directive to the administration to gradually substitute genetically modified corn in processed foods and in animal feed.
New Indian import restrictions on computers and other electronics could “significantly disrupt” trade, including U.S. exports, eight industry groups wrote in a letter this week to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The groups -- representing the American semiconductor, electronics, manufacturing and retail industries -- asked the Biden administration to raise the issue with the Indian government “as a matter of urgency.”
A World Trade Organization dispute panel rejected China's claim that its retaliatory tariffs in response to Section 232 tariffs were justified because the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs were a safeguard in disguise.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is soliciting comments on China's compliance with its World Trade Organization obligations. Comments and requests to testify at an Oct. 4 public hearing are due by 11:59 p.m. Sept. 20. The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. Comments may be submitted at regulations.gov using Docket Number USTR–2023-0008.
The fifth negotiating round for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework will be held Sept. 10-16 in Thailand, the administration announced Aug. 10. The supply chains chapter is complete, but negotiators will be talking about trade issues, the green transition and anticorruption matters. The U.S. delegation is led by Sharon Yuan, a counselor at Commerce, and Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Ellerman, whose portfolio is Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on how Russia is complying with its World Trade Organization commitments, including in its import regulation, export regulation, subsidies, non-tariff barriers, intellectual property rights enforcement, rule of law issues, and trade facilitation, or other issues.