The U.S.-Bangladesh Business Council aims to increase trade between the two countries, as Bangladesh is expected to graduate from the least-developed countries list by 2026. The U.S. is the largest importer of Bangladeshi products, and imported not quite $7 billion in 2019, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. A launch program hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that Bangladesh imported more than $1 billion in American agricultural products.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. is working with the world's 20 largest economies in the hopes of arriving at “a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom.” If that agreement included an approach to taxation of the digital giants such as Google and Facebook, that would also deflate the digital services tax controversy, which could otherwise lead to additional 25% tariffs on more than $800 million in goods (see 2103290049).
A bill called the Countering Chinese Propaganda Act, introduced by a half-dozen Republicans in the House and by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in the Senate, would require the executive branch to impose sanctions on anyone who “knowingly commits a significant act of malign disinformation on behalf of the government of a foreign country or foreign political party that has the direct purpose or effect of influencing political, diplomatic, or educational activities in the United States,” when that disinformation either harms U.S. national security or the safety of any citizen or green card holder. According to the bill, the Treasury Department already sanctioned the head of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, You Quan, for his role in the crackdown in Hong Kong. The United Front Work Department is the primary target of the bill, one of the co-introducers, Rep. Jim Banks, D-Ind., said.
Many advocates for developing countries say a TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver is needed to accelerate access to vaccines, treatments and COVID-19 tests, but most speakers at an American Bar Association-convened panel said that countries already have the power to curtail pharmaceutical patents for a pandemic, and that technical knowledge and input shortages are a bigger barrier than patents.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a video call April 1 with Vietnam's trade minister, Tran Tuan Anh, “highlighted the Biden Administration’s concerns about currency practices covered in the ongoing Section 301 investigation,” according to a readout of the call. In a tweet after the call, Tai said, “I ... urged Vietnam to address U.S. concerns on currency practices covered in the Section 301 investigation.” Tai said the two committed to increased collaboration, and plan to hold a meeting later this year under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement “to assess progress made in strengthening the trade relationship and in resolving outstanding bilateral issues,” which also include agricultural market access, digital trade and illegal timber trafficking.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Kenya's trade minister, Betty Maina, talked about the bilateral negotiations conducted during the previous administration, according to a readout of the April 1 call. “Ambassador Tai highlighted her ongoing review of the negotiations to ensure that any agreement aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s Build Back Better agenda,” the summary said. Maina tweeted, “It was a great pleasure to meet with @AmbassadorTai the United States Trade Representative to take stock of our strategic relationship and trade. I welcome the invitation to work together on shaping mutually beneficial trade relations between Africa and the US post [African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)].”
Penny Naas, president of UPS's international public affairs, said one bright spot in logistics during the pandemic is that more countries accepted electronic documents as goods crossed borders. She gave the example of an inefficient paper-based process as a country requiring a stamp, or chop, on goods entering or exiting the country. “A lot of that was suspended during COVID-19, but we’re starting to see some of that creep back,” she said during an Atlantic Council webinar March 31 on logistics. Naas called for digitalizing the import processes for low-value shipments, as direct exports to consumers grow rapidly. “There’s a way to digitalize it; but it’s expensive, and it’s not necessarily the sexiest of issues to digitalize the border,” she said. But if countries did, it would be a tremendous opportunity to stop illicit trade and increase revenue collection, she said.
A Japanese trade official said Japan's subsidies to diversify and reshore supply chains have already spurred plans for domestic factories for semiconductors, battery components for electric vehicles, aircraft engine parts, household disinfectants, medicines, protective gowns and chemicals.
Trade ministers from the G-7 countries told World Trade Organization Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala that they will provide political momentum to the WTO reform debate, during an online meeting March 31. “The multilateral trading system can be a force for good. It has increased competition and economic growth, helped raise living standards, and lifted millions out of poverty. It must serve the needs of all its members and provide the basis for free and fair trade. G7 Trade Ministers recognised that global trade should work for democratic and open-market systems and that these should not be undermined by unfair trade,” the joint statement of the trade ministers said. The United Kingdom hosted the call. The ministers agreed that the WTO needs to strengthen transparency, change the approach to special and differential treatment for developing countries, and reform dispute settlement.
The Alliance for Trade Enforcement, an umbrella group, joined by 18 business groups representing food and candy manufacturers, tech and telecom, energy, pharma and others, is asking U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to pressure Mexico to reverse some policies or not to pass others that it says violate the new free trade agreement.