Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't know when Katherine Tai, the U.S. trade representative nominee, might get a hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee. He told reporters on a press call Feb. 2 that it's likely that Finance will question the Health and Human Services secretary nominee ahead of Tai. He also said he doesn't know how the impeachment trial for Donald Trump could affect the timing. Grassley said he supports President Joe Biden's approach of trying to get Europe, other countries in North America, South Korea and Japan “on the same wavelength with regard to China,” and when he has the opportunity to talk to Tai, he'll be asking about “how long they're going to wait to follow up on phase two” of trade talks with China. He said he doesn't expect the issue of Section 301 exclusions to be on his list of topics to bring up. “I just haven’t had a lot of contact in the last six months with these business interests [with expired exclusions], maybe my staff has,” he said.
Thomas Vilsack, President Joe Biden’s nominee for agriculture secretary, said the agency will prioritize foreign market access for U.S. exporters and secure more trade agreements centered around agriculture. But Vilsack also said increasing competitiveness for U.S. exporters will be challenging, particularly because of the lasting impacts of the Trump administration's unpredictable trade policy.
The Wisconsin Farmers Union is calling on the Biden administration to drop the U.S.'s first USMCA dispute -- a case on Canadian tariff rate quotas -- the group announced in a blog post. WFU said that the demands of the largest dairy companies to tackle Canada's supply management policies on dairy products shouldn't come before needs of small farmers and fair market prices.
Trade advocates and a trade scholar discussed how effective U.S.-Asia sectoral agreements could be, as well as the possible downsides of such agreements, during an Asia Society Policy Institute webinar Jan. 26. The Japan mini-deal was not exactly a sectoral deal because it lowered tariffs on a variety of products across different categories, but the agreement's digital trade plank is one that negotiators could consider as a template for a digital trade accord across more Asian countries.
Dozens of agriculture trade groups wrote to Senate Finance Committee leaders urging them to confirm Katherine Tai, the administration's nominee for U.S. trade representative. The letter, dated Jan. 26, said, “Ms. Tai is eminently qualified and deeply familiar with the mission of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in opening foreign markets and reducing barriers for U.S. food and agriculture workers and exporters for the benefit of consumers in the U.S. and across the globe. We especially value Ms. Tai’s demonstrated ability to build bipartisan support for trade policies.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Jan. 19-22 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a Senate Finance Committee member, said the Treasury Department secretary might be confirmed early next week, if not sooner, and he thinks it's more likely negotiations at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on taxes could progress than will a settlement of the Airbus-Boeing dispute. Treasury leads on the digital services taxes (DST) front, while the U.S. trade representative, whose nomination will not come as quickly, leads on Airbus-Boeing.
Even though the Joe Biden administration will have a very different approach to trade than did the Trump administration, that will not mean a wholesale rejection of what its predecessors did, analysts said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar Jan. 21.
President Joe Biden announced his acting agency leadership choices as he waits for the Senate to approve his nominees. María Pagan, deputy general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, will be acting head until Katherine Tai can be approved as the next U.S. trade representative. Pagán also served as acting USTR during the last transition (see 1701300020).
European Union Director General for Trade Sabine Weyand told an audience Jan. 15 that resolving punitive tariffs are “a prerequisite for creating a good atmosphere” so that the EU and the U.S. can coordinate on confronting China's trade abuses and creating a carbon border adjustment.