After the second two-hour meeting in as many days with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexico's economy minister said the talks are going well, and they're working on all the outstanding topics. Ildefonso Guajardo was evasive about progress on auto rules of origin, a top priority for the U.S. administration, which wants trucks and cars to be counted as North American only if more work is done in factories with middle-class wages. "We're doing our best to do it as fast as possible," he said.
Mara Lee
Mara Lee, Senior Editor, is a reporter for International Trade Today and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. She joined the Warren Communications News staff in early 2018, after covering health policy, Midwestern Congressional delegations, and the Connecticut economy, insurance and manufacturing sectors for the Hartford Courant, the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper (established 1674). Before arriving in Washington D.C. to cover Congress in 2005, she worked in Ohio, where she witnessed fervent presidential campaigning every four years.
The European Union only accounts for 10 percent of U.S. liquefied natural gas exports, but European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said U.S. regulations are a barrier to faster growth. "The growing exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas, if priced competitively, could play an increasing and strategic role in EU gas supply; but the U.S. needs to play its role in doing away with red tape restrictions on liquefied natural gas exports," Juncker said in a press release issued Aug. 9. He noted that there has to be prior regulatory approval before each export to Europe.
A Trump ally on trade says getting Mexico and Canada to agree to country-of-origin labeling for beef and pork should be part of the NAFTA negotiations. Bringing back COOL was not in the NAFTA negotiating objectives presented to Congress last year. The Coalition for a Prosperous America says that bringing COOL back will boost domestic agriculture. "If the president wants to extend his ‘Buy American, Hire American’ agenda to the nation’s agricultural sector, then we need to revise our food labeling policies,” CPA Chairman Dan DiMicco said. "Americans undoubtedly want to buy safe, domestically farmed beef and pork."
Retaliatory tariffs for U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum were delayed again by India, the U.S. Department of Agriculture noted Aug. 8. The retaliatory tariffs, first announced in May (see 1805180064), are aimed at agricultural products, motorcycles, steel products and phosphoric and boric acid, and are aimed at offsetting the $241 million in duties India expects its U.S. customers to pay on its steel and aluminum exports. The tariffs were originally expected in June, but have been delayed twice. Many of the items already face high tariffs -- walnuts are taxed at 100 percent, fresh apples at 50 percent, chickpeas at 60 percent, motorcycles at 100 percent -- but the actions would add 10 percent more to many ag products, 20 percent to walnuts and almonds, and 50 percent more to motorcycles.
Trucking Companies Spared in Revised $16 Billion List; China Adds Categories to Its Retaliatory List
While the second round of tariffs on Chinese imports barely changed (see 1808070046), the most significant edit was removing trailers that can move from ship to freight train to tractor trailer. Shipping containers, 8609.00.00, accounted for about $381 million in imports last year, and taxing those containers would have caused inflationary effects throughout the logistics industry, because there is no source of containers other than China.
The European Union said in May that it has either ended the subsidy programs to Airbus that the World Trade Organization says are not in compliance, or taken steps to mitigate their effects on competing airplane manufacturers. The U.S. first brought a WTO challenge (see 1805150066) on the subsidies in 2004, but said in 2011 that it didn't believe the EU was complying with the ruling on its subsidies. It still holds that view, and has asked a WTO arbitrator to determine how much it can retaliate for the subsidies. The EU, in a document published Aug. 3, said consultations held June 27 to avoid arbitration failed to find a consensus. So it's requesting another panel of judges to decide if it has complied. A countersuit on the Washington state tax subsidies for Boeing is still making its way through the WTO appeals process (see 1706300035).
The United States notified other countries at the World Trade Organization that it intends to impose $350 million in retaliatory tariffs against Indonesia because that country has not complied with a WTO ruling from November 2017. The U.S. says that its agriculture exports have been reduced by that amount. The dispute began in 2013, and a panel was formed in 2015, because Indonesia's import license regime and other restrictions affect meat, fruit and vegetables, the U.S. says (see 1503190027).
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Aug. 7 that the Morocco would begin allowing commercial imports of American poultry products. "I welcome Morocco’s agreement to allow imports of U.S. poultry meat and products and the economic opportunities that will be afforded to U.S. producers," Lighthizer said. The government estimated that the Moroccan demand will be about $10 million in the first year. USTR said the U.S. had global sales of poultry meat and products of $4.3 billion in 2017. The Food Safety and Inspection Service posted information on export requirements for Morocco on Aug. 7.
In a series of tweets before a campaign rally in suburban Columbus, Ohio, and again on Aug. 5, President Donald Trump said tariffs "are working big time," and "foolish people scream" when his government imposes them. He said because of tariffs, America is winning, and China is "doing poorly against us" for the first time, and other countries' economies are hurting, too. Trump's preferred metric, the trade deficit, is still growing, through June and is up 7 percent compared to the first half of 2017. He said China is spending a fortune trying to convince "our politicians to fight me on tariffs."
The International Trade Commission will begin an investigation into what barriers the United Kingdom has to small and medium businesses seeking to export from the United States. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer sent a letter Aug. 3 requesting that a report be reproduced no later than July 31, 2019. The letter said barriers could include burdensome customs procedures, low de minimis thresholds for duties or value added tax, arbitrary standards and lack of transparency on regulations. Lighthizer suggested the ITC consult its report from 2014 on similar barriers in the European Union.