At the first U.S.-EU Trade and Labor Dialogue, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for International Affairs Thea Lee and European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis talked about leveraging trade tools between the United States and the European Union to eliminate forced labor in the global economy," according to a USTR readout of the Dec. 5 meeting.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, at a Dec. 2 Atlantic Council event on trade with Africa, said members of Congress should really dig into the long-standing African Growth and Opportunity Act preference program, in preparation for its reauthorization in 2025.
A readout of a Dec. 1 meeting between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Mexican Economy Secretary Raquel Buenrostro, a new appointee, said Tai "reiterated the importance" of Mexico imposing a ban on the import of goods made with forced labor. Tai also said it's urgent consultations over what the U.S. sees as discriminatory investment policies in Mexico's energy sector make "meaningful progress."
Stakeholders that wish to speak to officials in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Department about their negotiating priorities for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework must email IPEF@ustr.eop.gov by Dec. 2 if they wish to speak in Brisbane, Australia, on Dec. 13, and by Dec. 5 if they want to speak Dec. 6 in Washington. Email subject lines should say "USTR/Department of Commerce Listening Session" for the domestic event and "Brisbane Stakeholder Event" to get an opportunity to speak on the sidelines of the negotiating round. The Dec. 6 event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; the Brisbane event, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. local time.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who will be meeting later this week with French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, released a readout of a video call the two had, in which she and her counterpart ''discussed France’s concerns over certain provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. Ambassador Tai and Minister Le Maire agreed that the U.S. and European Union should work together to deepen the bilateral understanding of the legislation, which makes historic investments in green technology and clean energy in order to fight the climate crisis."
In a series of meetings on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai defended the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as talked about how implementation of it could be shaped. She pitched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as a way to address "current challenges" and realize new economic opportunities. And Tai talked about trade with China, both directly with her Chinese counterpart, and with Japan, where, the readout of her meeting with the Japanese trade minister said, Japan is prioritizing "tackling shared challenges posed by non-market economic policies and practices," which is another way of saying responding to Chinese overcapacity and subsidies.
Australia will host the first in-person negotiating round for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in Brisbane, starting Dec. 10. "This will be an important opportunity to identify areas of consensus and continue developing the four IPEF pillars," Office of the U.S. Trade Representative spokesman Adam Hodge said. The round is scheduled to last through Dec. 15.
The U.S. and Ukraine will negotiate to update the United States-Ukraine Trade and Investment Cooperation Agreement, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said after meeting Nov. 9 with Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Economy Yuliia Svyrydenko.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the U.S. and Taiwan had two days of productive meetings this week, exchanging views on what needs to be addressed in trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, anticorruption, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture, standards, digital trade, labor, environment, state-owned enterprises, and non-market policies and practices.
The U.S. and Taiwan will hold in-person "conceptual discussions" on the U.S.-Taiwan trade initiative in New York Nov. 8-9. The trade initiative (see 2208180042) is similar to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, in which Taiwan isn't a participant.