U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Sen Pat Roberts, R-Kan., that the U.S and Europe are at an impasse on trade talks, because the EU is not willing to talk about its barriers to U.S. agriculture exports.
The footnote in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that says that the U.S. could change its de minimis level to match Canada's and Mexico's levels was roundly rejected by the Senate Finance Committee on July 30, when the topic was one of the most-discussed aspects of the deal. Paula Barnett, owner of Paula Elaine Barnett jewelry, was the first witness who testified, and she told the committee that she does not want U.S. de minimis levels lowered, because she doesn't have to pay tariffs when goods are returned from outside the country, and because she purchases opals from Mexico, and those purchases are under the $800 threshold.
Five years of data exclusivity for biologics, an end to panel blocking and undefined "mechanisms and resources" to monitor and enforce labor and environmental laws in Mexico are the core of what the House Democrats have asked the Trump administration to change in its NAFTA rewrite. The House Democrats' working group revealed more of what it is asking for in a report sent to the Speaker's office and released publicly July 26. In that report, they wrote, "It is time for the administration to present its proposals and to show its commitment to passing the new NAFTA... ."
President Donald Trump on July 26 directed the U.S. trade representative to seek changes at the World Trade Organization that would prevent rich countries from claiming benefits reserved for developing countries in WTO agreements.
Of the 10 Congress members who traveled to Mexico last weekend to evaluate the NAFTA rewrite as part of a congressional delegation, one was already planning to vote for the deal, others were leaning yes, and some others have always opposed free trade deals. For some of those who were leaning yes, their conversations with government officials and institutions that tackle environmental problems near the border moved them closer to voting yes. For others who were already skeptical, they returned even more skeptical.
At a press conference attended by dozens of pro-USMCA trade groups, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue said his group is optimistic that the trade pact will get a vote in September. Donohue held his fingers an inch apart and said, "Lighthizer and Nancy Pelosi are this close," he said, referring to negotiations on changes to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and the Speaker of the House. Donohue said the Chamber is "very, very willing to move forward" with small fixes, which he characterized as "ornaments on the tree."
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will hold trade talks in Shanghai that begin July 30. The White House said that the "discussions will cover a range of issues, including intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers, agriculture, services, the trade deficit, and enforcement."
An American Enterprise Institute trade scholar says "Japan has chosen a dangerous and destructive mode of retaliation, one that is likely to greatly disrupt global electronic supply chains and bolster China’s push for dominance of 5G wireless," and it's not justified, even if South Korea has been provoking its former occupier.
American farmers are losing market share in Japan as Canada and Australia get the benefit of lower tariffs through the Trans-Pacific Partnership and European producers also get benefits through their region's free trade agreement with Japan.
The U.S. lost its appeal of a 2018 World Trade Organization decision that it had not properly calculated countervailing duties for Chinese pipes, tubular goods, solar panels, aluminum extrusions and other items. China had originally challenged the cases in 2016 -- the cases were brought between 2007 and 2012 (see 1805010071). The earlier ruling held that the U.S. was right to say that Chinese state-owned enterprises count as "public bodies" and therefore their actions can be market distorting. The appeal upheld that element of the case, but also upheld the victories for China. The WTO said that Commerce did not prove specificity in the subsidies for the products, and it also could not show how the SOE inputs distorted market prices. It was not allowed to use other countries' prices as reference points to prove market distortions, the WTO said, unless it had specific evidence that government interference in the market warranted that. The appeal said that countries' ability to use other countries' prices in CVD cases is "very limited."