The Agriculture Trade Caucus asked the administration to negotiate market-access trade agreements, saying it needs "to proactively engage and secure enforceable, high-standard agreements with our trading partners to ensure our farmers and ranchers can compete globally on a level playing field."
EU member state ambassadors on Feb. 21 approved two European Council proposals to renew for another year the suspension of import duties and quotas on goods from Ukraine and Moldova, the council announced.
Maersk violated the Shipping Act by failing to keep its "automated tariff system" open for public inspection, shipper OL USA said in a complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission on Feb. 14. The shipper accused Maersk of being "deceptive" and its tariff platform of lacking "functionality," adding that it was "unable to verify Maersk’s representations regarding the substance of its tariffs."
For Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., the future of U.S. trade policy is to make climate a trade policy priority, work with global allies to set digital trade standards and deepen the U.S. trading relationship with the global south.
The Treasury Department should “carefully scope” its proposed new outbound investment restrictions (see 2308090066 and 2310050035) to ensure U.S. capital does not help China’s military develop its artificial intelligence capabilities, a U.S. congressional commission heard this month.
Turkey will appeal a World Trade Organization dispute panel finding against its retaliatory duties on certain U.S. goods, the WTO announced Jan. 31. Because the Appellate Body is nonfunctional as the U.S. prevents vacancies from being filled, the appeal goes "into the void." As a result, Turkey's tariffs may stand without further rebuke from the WTO.
The European Commission is proposing to extend the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian goods for another year (see 2305250017). The measures were originally enacted in June 2022 to aid Ukraine following Russia's invasion.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Adrian Smith, R-Neb., along with Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and two California Democrats, announced they are launching a caucus to push for boosting agricultural exports and knocking down trade barriers in ag.
The European Commission this week released a proposal that it said will allow Northern Ireland businesses to use U.K. tariff rate quotas for imports from third countries of various agri-food products. The commission said the “aim” of the proposal is to ensure Northern Ireland businesses can use the TRQs for commodities originating from the rest of the world, “such as New Zealand lamb.” The solution was negotiated by the EU and the U.K. as part of the Windsor Framework, the agreement signed between the two sides on post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland (see 2302270051).
The U.S. and the EU held the fifth meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council in Washington on Jan. 30, where the two sides again committed to increasing trade and cooperating on economic security and emerging technology issues, according to a European Commission readout of the meeting. The commission said the EU and the U.S. agreed to “explore ways to facilitate trade in goods and technologies that are vital for the green transition” and strengthen approaches to investment screening, export controls, outbound investment and “dual-use innovation.”