International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting comments on how China and Russia are complying with their 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.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeks comments by Sept. 9 on how it should impose Section 201 safeguards on imports of polyester staple fiber, after the International Trade Commission in July found imports of the product are injuring U.S. industry. USTR said it may recommend tariffs or a tariff rate quota, export quota agreements, import licensing or other actions as part of the potential safeguard. Responses to comments are due Sept. 16. USTR will hold a public hearing Sept. 30, with requests to appear also due Sept. 9.
Climate champion Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., used his perch at the head of the Senate Budget Committee to ask witnesses about the future of electric vehicles. Although Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., helped shape the panel, the future of electric vehicle production in the U.S. seemed somewhat cloudy if Republicans are able to win back the White House and Senate and retain a House majority, given most Republicans on the panel's views of the EV subsidies that are reshaping the EV supply chain.
Eight former Volkswagen factory workers who were union representatives will be reinstated with back pay, and one fired worker will receive severance pay, according to a remediation plan for Volkswagen de México, the largest auto manufacturing plant in Mexico, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced July 30.
Higher or new Section 301 tariffs on lithium-ion batteries for EVs, lead-acid battery parts, golf-cart like EVs, electric cars, vans and buses, plug-in hybrids, ship-to-shore cranes, solar cells, solar panels, syringes, needles, three categories of disposable masks, 26 critical minerals, more than 100 HTS codes covering iron and steel products, and 31 aluminum HTS codes, all on imports from China, will not go up on Aug. 1, as originally announced two months ago (see 2405220072).
Upcoming changes to Section 301 tariffs won’t begin to take effect Aug. 1, as was proposed by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in May. After receiving over 1,100 comments on its notice of proposed changes, the USTR now says it expects its final determination will be issued in August but with the actual tariff changes taking effect about two weeks after USTR “makes the final determination public.”
The U.S. government, aware that many goods made with forced labor are inputs to finished goods, is working both to identify those inputs and to help importers understand that their goods could be banned from import as traceability becomes more possible.
Senate appropriators marked up a bill that would spend $2 million more a year on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and $4.1 million more on the International Trade Commission, in each case matching the president's budget request.
African journalists asked Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa Constance Hamilton and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs Joy Basu if their countries would stay in or return to the African Growth and Opportunity Act.