Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Andrea Durkin, a former director for Central America in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during the George W. Bush administration, announced that she has returned to the office to be assistant USTR for the World Trade Organization and multilateral affairs.
The Senate voted March 10 to confirm Maria Pagan as deputy U.S. trade representative in USTR's Geneva office to serve as an ambassador to the World Trade Organization. Pagan joined USTR's staff in 2003, rising to deputy general counsel and aiding the agency across multiple administrations on a host of trade agreements and negotiations. Before joining USTR, Pagan was an attorney adviser in the Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce at the Commerce Department. During her confirmation hearing, Pagan said that reforming the WTO's Appellate Body is a top priority since the body's "overreaching has shielded China's non-market practices and hurt the interest of U.S. workers and businesses" (see 2111300063). She was confirmed by an 80-19 vote, with Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., not voting.
Michelle Schulz, a former member of the President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration, rejoined the Braumiller Law Group as of counsel, the firm announced in an email. Schulz was one of the founders of the Braumiller Law Group, helping start the firm in 2003 when it was known as Braumiller Schulz. Schulz also served for a decade as a senior adviser to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's Industry Trade Advisory Committee for Aerospace. Her practice deals with export controls, including matters under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and Export Administration Regulations, along with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases and Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. regulations, the firm said.
David Boling, who was deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan from 2015 until last month, and who negotiated on the U.S.-Japan mini trade deal and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, announced on LinkedIn that he recently joined Eurasia Group, where he is the director for Japan and Asia trade.
A new Canadian approach to dairy tariff rate quotas, which still sharply limits the retail sale of imports, drew fire from three U.S. dairy trade groups.
China's lack of worker rights, weak environmental standards "and anticompetitive subsidies are the hallmarks of China’s artificial comparative advantage. It is an advantage that puts others out of business and violates any notion of fair competition," the annual trade policy agenda from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said, and the administration is looking to advance fair competition "through all available avenues," including coordinating with other countries, using existing trade agreements, or new tools, it said.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, said the administration could initiate another Section 301 investigation into China's practices in strategic sectors. It said the sources didn't say which sectors, but said there could also be tighter export controls, with greater cooperation with European and Asian allies on subsidies, and that the administration might increase scrutiny of U.S. companies' investments in China. The article said that a Section 301 investigation has been bandied about for months, but that it has new momentum since the talks to build on the Trump administration's phase one trade agreement have been fruitless. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House press office didn't respond to requests for comment.
Edelman Global Advisory hired Everett Eissenstat, who previously was General Motors senior vice president-global public policy, as chair of North America and global trade lead, the company said in a news release. Before joining GM, Eissenstat was a White House deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs and chief international trade counsel for the Senate Finance Committee. He also has been assistant U.S. trade representative for the Americas.
House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai that she needs to provide "a detailed analysis" of how China did or did not live up to the phase one trade deal. "We have great confidence in your abilities to address the many challenges China presents to the United States and other market economies, and we hope you will expand detailed communication on these matters so that Congress and the Administration can be partners in developing effective U.S. responses," they wrote Feb. 24.