U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal did not announce any breakthroughs after their Jan. 11 meeting, but their joint statement pointed to some trade irritants that might be resolved in the future.

Ahead of a meeting of the "Three Amigos" -- the presidents of the U.S. and Mexico and the prime minister of Canada -- Jan. 9-10, business groups that advocate for North American integration said during a Jan. 6 webinar that they're hoping to see more evidence of nearshoring and using North American resources to diversify away from China.

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Terry McCartin, along with other U.S. officials, will travel to Taipei for in-person negotiations for the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, which has similar objectives to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. The negotiations are scheduled for Jan. 14-17.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the U.S. is requesting new dispute settlement consultations with Canada over its tariff-rate quota allocations, because as it has talked with Canada over the last seven months, "U.S. concerns have only increased."

Two readouts from the administration say that Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jayme White and Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves told a top Canadian official that they are concerned about proposed legislation that would affect digital streaming services, tax digital services and, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, discriminate against U.S. businesses.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met with Mexican officials Dec. 16 to talk about Mexican plans to ban the import of genetically modified corn. The meeting came after the Biden administration heard from Congress that the U.S. should confront Mexico over the policy.

Representatives from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department presented draft negotiating text on trade facilitation, agriculture, services, domestic regulation, and transparency and good regulatory practices in the trade pillar, as well as text on supply chains, during negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in Brisbane, Australia, Dec. 10-15.

Two former government officials, one a leader at a think tank, the other a lawyer at Akin Gump, acknowledge that even as businesses continue to believe quitting the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a tactical error, "there is no conceivable scenario in which the United States could sign onto the [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for] TPP as it exists today. Strong opposition from both sides of the political spectrum to key elements of the deal would prevent congressional approval."

A proposal by the U.S. to the EU on how to structure trade preferences for clean, fairly traded steel and aluminum says that members of a global climate club would agree that when they exported steel or aluminum to other member countries, if their plants were at or below the importer's plant emission standards, they would enter with no tariffs, but if their plants were above the standards, they would have to pay a carbon tax.

More than half of the House Ways and Means Committee members, including all three of the Republicans vying to be its chairman in the next Congress, are asking U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to initiate formal dispute resolution consultations with Mexico over Mexico's barriers to U.S. crops that are genetically modified or use other biotechnology.