USTR Report to Congress Proclaims Authority of National Law Over WTO
The U.S. is bound to its own trade laws over the dictates of international bodies like the World Trade Organization, and could choose to disregard instructions of oppositional WTO dispute panel rulings that impinge U.S. sovereignty, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative indicated in its annual report to Congress (here), sent March 1. The Financial Times obtained and posted the report online. “Ever since the United States won its independence, it has been a basic principle of our country that American citizens are subject only to laws and regulations made by U.S. government -- not rulings made by foreign governments or international bodies," the USTR said. "This principle remains true today. Accordingly, the Trump Administration will aggressively defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy.” The report states elsewhere that U.S. sovereignty considerations will play a central role in trade policy development.
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The WTO sometimes adopts interpretations of WTO agreements that “effectively hamstring” the ability of the U.S. and other WTO members to employ trade remedies allowed by WTO rules to stop unfair trade practices, the USTR said. “Those activist interpretations, untethered from economic realities, undermine confidence in the trading system,” it said. USTR noted that the Trump administration will “act aggressively” to discourage unfair trade practices, “and encourage true market competition,” and mentioned that the administration can level Section 201 safeguard duties and Section 301 retaliatory tariffs if investigations uncover unfair foreign trade practices.
USTR signaled in the report an intention to destroy unfair trade barriers in foreign markets against U.S. goods, specifically mentioning agricultural goods, as well as to ensure full and fair use and profits for U.S. intellectual property owners, and strict enforcement of trade laws to stunt the effects of dumped and subsidized imports. The report also points out that the Commerce Department has the right to self-initiate antidumping and countervailing duty cases if warranted. Rules of the WTO, and bilateral and plurilateral trade agreements often fallaciously assume that implementing nations follow free-market principles and that their laws and regulations are fundamentally transparent, USTR’s report said. “It is time for a more aggressive approach,” the report says. “The Trump Administration will use all possible leverage -- including, if necessary, applying the principle of reciprocity to countries that refuse to open their markets -- to encourage other countries to give U.S. producers fair access to their markets.” USTR and the WTO didn't comment.
The report cites voters who during the 2016 election it says rejected U.S. trade policy and called for a “fundamental change in direction,” and reiterates the Trump administration’s preference for bilateral negotiations in lieu of multilateral agreements. “Every action we take with respect to trade will be designed to increase our economic growth, promote job creation in the United States, promote reciprocity with our trading partners, strengthen our manufacturing base and our ability to defend ourselves, and expand our agricultural and other exports,” the report said. USTR submitted the abbreviated report to Congress to comply with a March 1 statutory deadline, and will submit a more detailed report after the Senate confirms a USTR chief, the report said. The nomination of Robert Lighthizer for USTR sits in the Senate Finance Committee for consideration.