Because the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative was in such a hurry on implementation, some USMCA details needed by traders are either wrong or missing. For instance, there are tariff numbers that are invalid, because negotiators used the 2012 Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers. On a call with trade professionals July 6, CBP staffers said importers or exporters can email CBP with a tariff number in question, and the agency can provide guidance on how to claim USMCA treatment for those goods.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., joined by one Republican and three Democratic congressmen from the New York House delegation, is asking the U.S. Trade Representative to make sure that Canada keeps its promises on dairy tariff rate quotas and eliminating Class 6 and Class 7 milk price controls.
Testimony by Liz Truss, the United Kingdom's international trade secretary, revealed that no chapters have been closed yet in negotiations with the U.S., and suggests that barriers to U.S. exports of poultry and beef and price controls on pharmaceutical drugs continue to be sensitive areas for the British. Truss was updating Parliament about the second round of negotiations on a free trade agreement with the U.S.
The U.S. Trade Representative announced the appointment of USMCA state-to-state dispute panelists July 1:
The International Dairy Foods Association told the chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that it believes Canada is already violating the annex on tariff rate quotas in the USMCA. The dairy trade group, which sent a letter to Ambassador Gregg Doud on June 30, says that USMCA prohibits TRQs from having conditions or eligibility requirements beyond those already in the Canadian Tariff Schedule -- and that Canada is doing just that.
European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said although it's not easy managing the trade relationship with the U.S., the EU and U.S. are still talking. “We’ve resumed conversations with the U.S. some weeks ago,” he said. “We’re up for a small confidence-building deal with the United States -- we have a lot of things we agree on. We’re waiting for the timing when President [Donald] Trump has made up his mind whether he wants to have a deal or not. If he does, we’re ready.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, celebrated the switchover from NAFTA to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement -- coming July 1 -- but also talked about a trade irritant with Canada and one with Mexico in a conference call with reporters June 30.
The World Trade Organization arbitrator will not announce a decision on the size of retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. over Boeing subsidies until the fall, according to Reuters, citing unnamed sources. The U.S. has already imposed tariffs on European food, beverages, aircraft parts and a few other products, because a WTO arbitrator said the European Union had not come into compliance with a decision that said it gave too-large subsidies to Airbus. The decision had been expected in May or June, and EU officials were hoping that if they were granted the right to retaliate, that would convince the U.S. to negotiate a civil aviation settlement that would lift the U.S. tariffs. Instead, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is talking about adding more products to its 25% tariff list (see 2006240017).
The U.S. is considering providing relief to U.S. lobster exporters hit by Chinese retaliatory tariffs and will more closely examine whether China is meeting its seafood purchase commitments under the phase one trade deal. The White House said June 24 it may provide aid to the seafood industry for China’s “unjust retaliatory tariffs,” and President Donald Trump directed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to submit monthly reports on Chinese seafood purchases and the value of lobster exports to China.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Aluminum Association reacted with dismay June 23 to a Bloomberg report that the U.S. could re-impose 10% tariffs on Canadian aluminum on July 1, because of an alleged surge in imports since tariffs were lifted. The U.S. trade representative told senators last week that he is in consultations with Canada on the issue.