The U.S. and the United Kingdom recently completed their most “intensive” round of free trade agreement trade talks and said almost all negotiations are in advanced stages, the U.K. said Nov. 2. The most recent round -- held Oct. 19 to Oct. 30 -- included discussions on market access, product-specific rules of origin and customs. The two sides said they agreed to a “programme for continued talks at official level for the weeks following the U.S. election.” The Office of the U.S Trade Representative did not comment.
China doesn’t comment on U.S. internal affairs such as its presidential election, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said Oct. 30 when asked about comments by a Joe Biden aide that the Democratic Party nominee would consult with allies on what to do about the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports if he's elected president. “China's policy on the United States remains highly stable and consistent,” the spokesperson said, according to a transcript of a news conference. “We are committed to developing a China-U.S. relationship featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.” Biden would seek “collective leverage” against China by bonding with allies to curb Beijing's allegedly unfair trade practices, foreign policy adviser Jeffrey Prescott told Reuters Oct. 28. “The failure of the Trump administration has been to go it alone.” Biden won’t “lock into any premature position before we see exactly what we’re inheriting,” Prescott said when asked if Biden would lift the tariffs unilaterally if elected. “Consulting with allies is going to be a central part of that.”
The United Kingdom and Taiwan pledged during virtual talks last week to build stronger trade ties and agreed to continue discussing removing barriers in the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors, the U.K. said Oct. 26. The U.K.’s Department for International Trade said it made “progress” on market access for U.K. lamb in Taiwan and aims to “resolve [other] market access issues between our economies.”
The United Kingdom and Japan officially signed a trade agreement (see 2009110022) that will take effect when the U.K. leaves the European Union Jan. 1, 2021. The U.K. on Oct. 23 issued a summary of benefits for U.K. businesses under the deal and a parliamentary report on maintaining the trade relationship after Brexit. Along with reducing tariffs, the U.K. said the deal addresses items including intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, dispute settlement and customs facilitation.
Mongolia will officially join the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement in January 2021, benefiting from reduced-tariff trade with China, Bangladesh, India, South Korea, Laos and Sri Lanka, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in an Oct. 26 notice. China said Mongolia will reduce tariffs on 366 items, according to an unofficial translation of the notice, including “aquatic products,” vegetables, fruits, oils, certain chemicals, woods, cotton, yarn and machinery.
A recent Congressional Research Service report on agricultural gains in the Japan mini-deal said that while it does match the Trans-Pacific Partnership in many ways, there are some significant shortfalls, including products under tariff-rate quotas in the broader multilateral deal that aren't in the mini-deal.
Talks toward a comprehensive trade agreement with the United Kingdom would likely continue under a Joe Biden administration, though when a deal could be reached is unclear, K&L Gates partner Stacy Ettinger said during a webinar on how trade policy would change if there is an administration change after the election, or progress if there is a second Trump administration. Ettinger, a staffer for Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., before joining the private sector, was joined by former White House trade staffer Clete Willems, now at Akin Gump, during a webinar Oct. 20 hosted by American University's law school.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that the trade facilitation agreement that the U.S. and Brazil signed Oct. 19 is very similar to the USMCA trade facilitation chapter, and that traders should expect more incremental progress in coming months. “There’s a lot more that needs to be done,” Lighthizer said during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce program Oct. 20. “We have ongoing negotiations on ethanol. Brazilians like to talk about sugar. There’s a variety of things in the agriculture area.”
A bipartisan letter from 33 House members representing pecan-growing states asks U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to argue for lower tariffs on U.S. pecans imported by India as part of an agreement to reinstate that country's participation in the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program. The Oct. 15 letter, led by Georgia Reps. Austin Scott (R) and Sanford Bishop (D), said the 36% tariff on pecans makes it difficult for American producers to compete in the market.
The United Kingdom completed its second round of trade negotiations with Australia (see 2006170014) and plans to hold the third round in November, the U.K. said Oct. 12. The U.K. called the talks “productive” and said both countries have committed to “removing trade barriers and creating new opportunities for business.” Negotiators discussed a range of trade issues, including rules of origin, the role of state-owned companies, intellectual property, trade remedies and technical barriers to trade.