Delegations to the World Trade Organization understand that if the WTO doesn't reform, things will get worse, rather than holding steady, according to Petter Olberg, Norway’s ambassador to the WTO and the man facilitating reform discussions.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the Trump administration will recommend renewal of USMCA only if 20 issues can be resolved, and maybe more, as he told Congress this isn't an exhaustive list.
The U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization published a blunt response to reform discussions, arguing that the underpinning of the WTO -- that all countries should receive the same tariff rate, unless there is a comprehensive free-trade agreement between them -- was naive, "and that era has passed."
The lead sponsor in the House on a Russia sanctions and secondary sanctions bill said that negotiations are still ongoing between the two chambers on the final language of the bill.
The Council of the EU, which is made up of government ministers from each EU country, voted last week to eliminate customs duties on industrial products and to grant tariff rate quotas for some seafood and agricultural products. It also voted to extend duty-free treatment for U.S. lobster exports. That tariff treatment had expired in July.
Law firms are advising clients of changes to Mexican customs laws that begin Jan. 1, including that customs brokers will be liable if their clients provide false or inaccurate information.
As a Russia sanctions bill appears to have more momentum (see 2511170041), Democratic senators declined to say what tariff levels would be effective or appropriate if it becomes law.
Trade frameworks with Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala and Ecuador have all those countries pledging to "enhance cooperation with the United States to combat non-market policies and practices of other countries. The ... countries have also committed to identifying tools to align approaches to export controls, investment security, duty evasion, and other important topics."
Center for Strategic and International Studies adviser Bill Reinsch, who served as undersecretary of commerce for export administration for seven years earlier in his career, said he thinks loosening up export controls on AI-capable chips is the right move, but he regrets that exports to the United Arab Emirates are the prominent example.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the ranking member of the House Select Committee on China, is asking Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to tell him whether allied governments were consulted before the White House announced that chip exports from Nexperia's China factory would resume, suggesting that the EU was caught flat-footed at the development. Nexperia makes semiconductors used in automobiles.