U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, speaking at the United Steelworkers convention, told union leaders and members explicitly that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity is not a repeat of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. She said the administration learned lessons from TPP, and "[b]ecause of that, tariff elimination is not on the table."
The Interagency Committee on Trade in Timber Products from Peru told CBP to continue to block timber imports from Inversiones WCA E.I.R.L. (WCA), a Peruvian exporter, because a Peruvian investigation found that WCA is selling illegally harvested timber. The ban began two years ago.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is setting fiscal year 2023 country allocations for imports under tariff-rate quotas for cane sugar and refined sugars. The FY23 import TRQ for raw cane sugar was established at 1,117,195 metric tons raw value (MTRV), the minimum amount to which the U.S. is committed under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Uruguay Round Agreements (see 2207080043). The USTR now allocates this TRQ among supplying countries and customs areas, as follows:
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai asked for consultations with Mexico over a 2021 amendment to Mexico's Electric Power Industry Law that privileges the state-owned electric utility, and over 2019 and June 2022 actions that privilege PEMEX, Mexico's state-owned oil and gas company.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that all the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) partner countries met July 13 and 14 in Singapore for the first real discussions of the issues covered by the framework. The agency said the 165 delegates had positive and constructive dialogue.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that as a result of a labor rights complaint under USMCA, a Panasonic plant's management reimbursed workers for dues it had deducted for a union contract that workers did not choose, and negotiated a contract with an independent union that would provide a "significant wage increase."
Just as the U.S. trade representative declined to continue work toward a traditional free trade agreement with the U.K. begun during the previous administration, current USTR Katherine Tai announced July 14 that trade talks with Kenya will deal with trade facilitation, digital trade, science-based sanitary and phytosanitary rules and rooting out forced labor in supply chains -- not reducing tariffs on either side.
Mexico's Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Luz Maria de la Mora said that Mexico is working to complete the goals of the trade facilitation chapter in USMCA, so that with transparency and information sharing, even small businesses can access expedited release. De la Mora, who spoke in Spanish during a press conference in Vancouver, Canada, also attended by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Canada's trade minister. She said that all three countries have the goal of secure borders, but also borders that allow businesses to be competitive.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is soliciting comments on a strategy to combat forced labor, at Regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2022-0006. Although CBP is the primary agency responsible for preventing goods made with forced labor from reaching customers in the U.S., USTR is conducting an interagency review of existing trade policies and tools to combat forced labor, "to determine areas that may need strengthening and gaps that may need to be filled." Comments are due by Aug. 5.