U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai called on the World Trade Organization to conclude the fisheries subsidies agreement, and said that discussions in Geneva about how to revive the Appellate Body should instead focus on what could incentivize countries to reach an agreement before years and years of litigation.
Thirteen Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., wrote a letter asking U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to increase trade engagement with countries like Uruguay, Paraguay, Guatemala, Ecuador and Colombia. The letter, sent Oct. 13, noted that while the U.S. is the biggest trading partner of Central American countries and Caribbean nations, China is the No. 1 trading partner off the continent for all but two countries in South America, and in many cases, such as Argentina, Chile and Brazil, their trade with China overshadows trade with their immediate neighbors. In South America, only Ecuador and Colombia buy and sell more to the U.S. than they do to China, and Colombia has a free trade agreement with the U.S.
Nineteen of the 25 House Ways and Means Democrats, led by Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., are asking U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to continue to push workers' rights at the World Trade Organization, in a letter sent Oct. 12. "[W]e write today to emphasize the importance of including labor and worker rights in the agenda. We support the Biden Administration’s focus on a worker-centered trade policy and were encouraged by the forced labor proposal proposed during the WTO fisheries subsidies negotiations. For far too long, labor issues have not been central to the work of the WTO despite clear indications of its prominence in the foundational legal text of the organization as well as Congress’ intent for the WTO to address labor and worker rights," they said. They also asked her to convince other countries to form a working group on labor standards.
Ronald Baumgarten, former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative in the Office of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, has rejoined BakerHostetler as of counsel on the International Trade and National Security team, the firm announced. Baumgarten left BakerHostetler in 2007 to join the USTR as assistant general counsel. He later served as senior director in the Office of Agricultural Affairs before becoming deputy assistant USTR.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she talked about "ongoing efforts to address global overcapacity in the steel and aluminum sectors and shared challenges posed by non-market economies" when she met with her European Union counterpart on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Sorrento, Italy. The EU did not issue its own readout of the meeting, but Valdis Dombrovskis tweeted, "Met [the] USTR, Ambassador Tai, to continue our discussions on finding a settlement on the Trump steel & aluminium tariffs #232. The work continues." He has previously said that an agreement on Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum has to be reached by early November in order to prevent retaliatory tariffs from doubling on Dec. 1. Those retaliatory tariffs have hurt the export of American spirits.
The White House has sent to the Senate the nomination of Elaine Trevino to be chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (see 2109140047).
China-U.S. economic and trade relations “are essentially mutually beneficial,” a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said when asked Oct. 8 about remarks by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai that the Biden administration wants to reengage Beijing in new rounds of trade talks and hold China accountable for its commitments under the January 2020 phase one trade agreement (see 2110040049). “There is no winner in a trade war,” the spokesperson said.
Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that while what he called the "food fight between Democrats" is preventing legislation from moving this year, "this next year would be an opportune time to have a conversation about [Section 232 reform] in a bipartisan way." Brady, who was responding to a question during a call with reporters Oct. 6, said he'd like to be a part of that conversation about the use of national security tariffs and Congress's role in setting tariffs.
Two Chinese scholars specializing in international trade said they found U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai's Oct. 4 speech (see 2110040008) encouraging, even though she criticized Chinese adherence to market principles and the effect that has on companies around the world.
Correction: Anna Ashton, vice president of government affairs for the U.S.-China Business Council, analyzed U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai's Oct. 4 China remarks (see 2110040049) during a virtual event hosted by University of Pennsylvania professor Neysun Mahboubi.