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.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in her first interview since taking office, said that she's hearing from stakeholders who say the additional tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods from China damages the economy, but she's not inclined to remove them without concessions from China. “No negotiator walks away from leverage, right?” she said. “I have heard people say, ‘Please just take these tariffs off,’” Tai told The Wall Street Journal. But “yanking off tariffs,” she warned, could harm the economy unless the change is “communicated in a way so that the actors in the economy can make adjustments.”
Bill Brock, a U.S. trade representative during the Reagan administration, died March 25 at age 90 of pneumonia, according to published reports.
Three Sheppard Mullin lawyers, across two continents, say the outcome of the new aggressive stance against China's rising technological manufacturing sector is yet to be seen, but that they don't expect the Biden administration to back away from the most significant export control actions taken under President Donald Trump.
Brazil's Economy Minister Lucas Ferraz said that two years ago, Brazil proposed to the other three countries in the Mercosur trade bloc that they should reduce the average tariff by half. It's currently 11.5%, and he said the Brazilian government believes it should be 6% to 7%.
Wally Adeyemo was confirmed as deputy treasury secretary on a voice vote March 25. Adeyemo, whose nomination hearing was held a month ago, said there would be a comprehensive review of sanctions under the new administration (see 2102230047). Even though there was no recorded opposition to his nomination, Republicans required the cloture process to go forward, which delayed the vote by a week.
A readout of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai's call with India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal made no mention of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, where India was the largest beneficiary before it was barred over U.S. medical device and dairy exporters' complaints. The Indian government did not release a press release summarizing its view of the call. Tai's office said that they “agreed to work constructively to resolve key outstanding bilateral trade issues and to take a comprehensive look at ways to expand the trade relationship.”
The Magnitsky Act is set to sunset in 2022, and the bipartisan authors of the original sanctions bill asked civil society representatives in the U.S. and Africa how the renewal should be shaped.
U.S.Trade Representative Katherine Tai talked with Japan's Trade Minister Kajiyama Hiroshi about how they're concerned about unfair trading practices from non-market economies such as China, but did not mention that topic coming up with the South Korean trade minister. South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and Tai talked about how the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement strengthened economic ties, and discussed World Trade Organization reform, the call summary said. The Korean press emphasized agreement on writing digital trade rules. Tai also spoke with Mexican Economy Secretary Tatiana Clouthier, and they talked about fully implementing USMCA and Mexico's labor reform. “Tai also stressed the critical importance of cooperation on climate and environmental issues, as well as reform at the World Trade Organization and the mutual benefits of robust bi-lateral agricultural trade,” a readout of the talk said. Clouthier tweeted her thanks for such a productive meeting.