Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, asked White House trade adviser Peter Navarro to answer a series of questions related to former National Security Adviser John Bolton's assertion that President Donald Trump pleaded with China's president to buy more soybeans and wheat, so Trump could win re-election. He asked him to confirm the claim, and to say whether he was in all the meetings between Trump and the Chinese president that Bolton described. He asked for the answers by July 14.
European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said although it's not easy managing the trade relationship with the U.S., the EU and U.S. are still talking. “We’ve resumed conversations with the U.S. some weeks ago,” he said. “We’re up for a small confidence-building deal with the United States -- we have a lot of things we agree on. We’re waiting for the timing when President [Donald] Trump has made up his mind whether he wants to have a deal or not. If he does, we’re ready.”
In calls hosted by CBP on the last day of NAFTA, and the first day of USMCA, trade professionals were anxious to understand what they should change in paperwork.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, celebrated the switchover from NAFTA to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement -- coming July 1 -- but also talked about a trade irritant with Canada and one with Mexico in a conference call with reporters June 30.
The Labor Department is seeking comments on its interim rules for how automakers can establish that enough of their vehicles were produced with $16/hour labor. Stakeholders have until Aug. 31 to comment.
CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner for Trade Brenda Smith told reporters June 30 that CBP staffers “are very well-prepared to implement the agreement” that takes over from NAFTA at midnight.
Canada complained at the World Trade Organization that the U.S. has neither proposed a period of time to comply with the ruling on supercalendered paper, nor said whether it will comply with the Dispute Settlement Body ruling at all (see 2002060059). So, as it did in April, Canada is asking for the right to retaliate for the damage done. The complaint was part of the regular Dispute Settlement Body meeting in Geneva on June 29.
Although lawmakers thought eliminating the NAFTA certificate would be helpful, some importers are more comfortable with structure, so there will be a certificate template available on CBP's trade agreements web page “as soon as possible,” Adam Sulewski, USMCA Center project leader at CBP, said during a conference call June 29. He reminded importers, “We can accept those required nine data elements in any form.”
The World Trade Organization arbitrator will not announce a decision on the size of retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. over Boeing subsidies until the fall, according to Reuters, citing unnamed sources. The U.S. has already imposed tariffs on European food, beverages, aircraft parts and a few other products, because a WTO arbitrator said the European Union had not come into compliance with a decision that said it gave too-large subsidies to Airbus. The decision had been expected in May or June, and EU officials were hoping that if they were granted the right to retaliate, that would convince the U.S. to negotiate a civil aviation settlement that would lift the U.S. tariffs. Instead, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is talking about adding more products to its 25% tariff list (see 2006240017).
It's unclear how a President Joe Biden would try to use policy to shape the global supply chain, but the Atlantic Council's Asia Security director said that since Biden prefers a multilateral approach, he “might be less likely” to impose tariffs or export controls. Miyeon Oh, who was speaking during an Atlantic Council webinar June 26, said he might try to get allies to coordinate an effort “to rebalance the global supply chain,” and he might seek to use American participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a way to do so.