The Information Technology Industry Council is asking U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to push Indonesia to drop tariffs on technology products during Trade and Investment Framework Agreement meetings in February. Data center and networking equipment, printers, solid state drives and other products covered by the World Trade Organization's Information Technology Agreement are facing tariffs in Indonesia, the industry group said in a letter Jan. 27, even though Indonesia is a signatory to the ITA.
The International Trade Commission is seeking submissions for the foreign-trade zones investigation it is doing, which includes a question on whether firms manufacturing in American FTZs are at a disadvantage to firms operating in similar zones in Canada and Mexico. A notice in the Federal Register gives details about a public hearing in connection with the ITC investigation that will be held May 17. Requests to testify must be submitted by May 3. The report will be complete and sent to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative by April 14, 2023, the agency said.
A readout of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai's meeting with South Korea's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said Tai noted "strong concerns" among U.S. steel producers, and said the U.S. is not ready to expand "conversations to develop a global arrangement that addresses the carbon intensity of steel and aluminum trade." She said she emphasized the challenges of global overcapacity driven by non-market practices. Tai said she updated Yeo on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and discussed the need to cooperate in addressing global supply chain issues. They agreed to work together to promote resilient supply chains.
Several federal government agencies issued guidance for doing business in Myanmar Jan. 26. The advisory issued by the departments of State, the Treasury, Commerce, Labor and Homeland Security and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative warns of "heightened risks associated with doing business in the country, and in particular with the military regime." The advisory document warns that businesses and individuals with ties to the military regime may face significant risks, including violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws and sanctions. The warning strongly suggests that the business community should further review and update their risk assessments associated with continuing to do business with Burma’s state-owned enterprises.
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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."
Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, who also led the World Bank, told an Atlantic Council audience that he doesn't think sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine is a particularly useful approach. "Sanctions have a mixed history," he said. "They tend to be most effective as a tool when they’re narrowly focused," such as with export controls. "To be blunt, people often apply them because they’re not sure what else they’re ready to do … but they want to signal their displeasure," he said during the Jan. 19 webinar. He suggested that if the U.S., Canada and Europe offered to invest in Ukraine with an eye to improving its economy and as a carrot to improve its governance, that could be more effective.
More than 25 House Republicans asked the administration to initiate a case at the World Trade Organization against India over that country's financial support for its wheat and rice growers. The letter, led by Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., was sent Jan. 13. In the press release announcing the letter, the CEO of USA Rice said, "If left unchecked, the Indian export market will continue to grow at an uncontrollable rate and threaten the viability of rice and wheat producers throughout the world.” The press release also noted that some senators had earlier made the same request. "For too long, Indian government policies have cost U.S. wheat money and export opportunities. Those Indian policies cost U.S. wheat farmers more than $500 million annually,” said Kansas Association of Wheat Growers President Justin Knopf. “With India poised for near-record exports, time is of the utmost importance. We encourage the USTR to use the WTO to hold India accountable to their past commitments."
The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and that committee's chairman, as well as the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, urged the deputy U.S. trade representative to press Mexico and Canada on market access issues for the energy and agricultural sectors, and the senators also complained about barriers for the telecom, pharmaceutical and television industries in either Mexico or Canada. Deputy USTR Jayme White is meeting with Canadian and Mexican counterparts this week.