In a Joe Biden administration, some tariffs can be unilaterally withdrawn, but others would require complex negotiations to sort out, said Peterson Institute for International Economics nonresident senior fellow Anabel Gonzalez. She asked PIIE Senior Fellow Chad Bown and former U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman where they think the new administration's energies should be directed, during a Nov. 18 webinar.
The U.S. and eight other countries speaking at the World Trade Organization said they're concerned about the expected proposal from the European Union to implement a carbon border tax as part of its climate change mitigation policy. The proposal is expected next year. A Geneva trade official said the EU started the discussion at a Committee on Trade and the Environment meeting Nov. 16. The countries that are concerned want to make sure subsidies for EU industries in green energy will be fair; that costs aren't borne only by producers; and that any action is WTO-compliant.
The Joe Biden transition teams have been announced. The team that is communicating with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the International Trade Commission and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency includes Democratic alumni; experts on trade, industrial policy and currency flows; and union critics of past free trade policy. The teams “are responsible for understanding the operations of each agency, ensuring a smooth transfer of power, and preparing for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect [Kamala] Harris and their [C]abinet to hit the ground running on Day One,” the announcement said.
U.S. Fashion Industry Association counsel David Spooner told attendees at the USFIA industry virtual conference Nov. 10 that while he thinks it's unlikely that the current administration would add new tariffs on China before leaving office in two months, it's possible that President Donald Trump could increase the tariff rate on list 4A, or put tariffs on list 4B, as a way of “venting his frustration with China.” Spooner, who is at law firm Barnes and Thornburg, said it's also possible that the administration will retaliate against European Union tariffs authorized by the World Trade Organization for past Boeing subsidies.
Even as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held out hope for a President Joe Biden rolling back tariffs on imports from countries other than China, it doesn't expect Congress to limit a president's ability to impose tariffs without congressional approval. Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the Chamber and its top policy officer, said that if Biden were to win, “he may choose a slightly different path” on tariffs than Donald Trump has.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, will no longer lead the committee even if Republicans retain the majority in the Senate. The Republicans have term limits for committee chairmanships, so he will move on. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, is the most senior member of the committee, and thus is the next expected chairman, though that move has not yet been settled.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program could happen either by packaging the bill with an omnibus spending bill, or, if Congress just passes another temporary spending bill, by attachment to a tax extenders bill.
The Hong Kong ambassador to the World Trade Organization told the U.S. ambassador there that Hong Kong is initiating a dispute, and wants formal bilateral consultations on the U.S. decision to require goods made in Hong Kong to be marked 'Made in China.'
The Democrat who would lead the Finance Committee if the Senate majority changes parties after the election blasted President Donald Trump over labor, auto rules of origin, dairy and biotech export regulations, in a letter that said the benefits promised in renegotiating NAFTA have not been delivered. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote in the Oct. 30 letter that “the Administration has yet to bring any enforcement action under either the state-to-state dispute settlement or the new Rapid Response Mechanism despite the persistence of labor violations in Mexico.”
The U.S. supports South Korea's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee rather than the Nigerian candidate for director-general, even though the latter has more support, because the World Trade Organization “must be led with someone with real, hands-on experience in the field,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in an Oct. 28 statement, saying “the WTO is badly in need of major reform,” and that Yoo is a “bona fide trade expert.”