Defending AD/CV Duty Regime Is Trump Administration's No. 1 Trade Enforcement Goal, USTR Report Says
The Trump administration’s “primary” trade enforcement objective is defending the Commerce Department’s ability to assess antidumping and countervailing duties used to address distortions caused by China’s “non-market economy system,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a recently released report to Congress. Required by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, the 2017 Trade Enforcement Priorities Report blasts China for its excessive production of steel and aluminum, saying oversupply of the metals has suppressed U.S. and global prices, and has displaced U.S. exports in foreign markets. “The protection of U.S. workers and industry against unfairly traded imports into the United States from China and other countries is an essential tool in combatting distortions such as overcapacity,” the report says. “Therefore, USTR will continue to aggressively defend all WTO challenges to U.S. trade remedy actions, including in the context of numerous ongoing disputes.”
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The report says the U.S. will actively participate in an ongoing World Trade Organization dispute China initiated against the EU’s treatment of the nation as a “non-market economy” for AD duty purposes, for which China requested a settlement panel in March (see 1703130037). China filed a similar WTO complaint against the U.S. in December 2016 (see 1612120019), but China hasn’t requested a panel in that dispute, the report says. The report says the U.S. will also continue to defend itself in several other WTO disputes, including one brought in June by India against U.S. CV duties on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products (see 1706090021) and one brought in March by Turkey against CV orders on four types of pipe and tube products (see 1703080047). The report says the U.S. will also continue to pursue WTO challenges, citing one it filed against Chinese agricultural subsidies for rice, wheat and corn in September 2016 (see 1609130069), among others.
USTR also highlighted in the report its intention for “rigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights,” saying it is committed to “exposing” overseas laws, practices and other measures that don’t provide adequate IP protection. USTR criticized the “lack of adequate and effective protection” by China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia and Saudi Arabia for regulatory test and other data submitted by pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical producers.
The report also generally calls out “inadequate and ineffective border enforcement against counterfeit and pirated goods,” as well as restrictive patentability criteria impinging U.S. export growth in Argentina, India and Indonesia, and inadequate trade secrets protections, “notably” by China and India. The report also notes USTR’s designation of China, India and Indonesia on its Priority Watch List because of various IP enforcement problems (see 1704280026). USTR is also “monitoring” trade partners “such as Chile and Colombia, which have not delivered on IP commitments,” and the EU, where U.S. exporters relying on the use of common food names face barriers wrought by geographical indications, the report says.