Two prominent Republicans questioned the suitability of switching tariffs for quotas because of currency manipulation in Brazil and Argentina, as President Donald Trump said Dec. 2 he is doing. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., the leading critic of Trump's trade policy, issued a statement that night that said, “He is justifying these tariffs by citing Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. This provision is exclusively meant for national security threats. Yet, the President has acknowledged that the real purpose of this action is to combat currency manipulation -- which does not pose a national security threat. Furthermore, even if this action were legitimate, the statutory window for imposing these tariffs has closed. These actions further underscore that Congress should take up my legislation that would reassert congressional authority regarding imposition of national security tariffs.”
President Donald Trump has “no deadline” for striking a trade deal with China, he told reporters Dec. 3 during a meeting in London. “I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal,” he said. The Chinese “want to make a deal now, and we’ll see whether or not the deal’s going to be right,” he said. “It’s got to be right.” A trade agreement is “dependent on one thing -- do I want to make it?” Trump said. “We’re doing very well with China right now. We can do even better with the flick of a pen.” China didn’t immediately comment. Extending the U.S.-China trade war for another year past the 2020 election would be a “bad deal” for “every segment of the economy,” said David French, senior vice president-government relations at the National Retail Federation. “We want and need to see a deal as soon as possible,” said French. Four rounds of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods at 15 percent and higher “continue to hurt U.S. businesses, workers and consumers and are a substantial drag on the U.S. economy,” he said.
Switzerland is “absolutely convinced” it needs a free trade agreement with the U.S., which could benefit U.S. agricultural exporters, a Switzerland ambassador and Switzerland trade expert said during a Dec. 3 Heritage Foundation panel. But a deal may be unlikely, particularly because Switzerland faces the difficult decision of accepting U.S. agricultural safety standards over those of the European Union, a trade expert said. That decision presents a significant barrier to a potential trade deal.
In the Nov. 25 - Dec. 2 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
An amended free trade agreement between China and Pakistan took effect Dec. 1, rewriting rules on market access, tariff reduction schedules and more in an effort to increase trade, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Dec. 1, according to an unofficial translation. China hopes the new deal deepens “bilateral economic and trade cooperation” through measures aimed at revamping provisions such as trade remedies and customs cooperation. The deal will “gradually increase” the number of goods that face no tariffs from 35 percent to 75 percent, China said, and both nations will “implement a 20% reduction in taxes on other products that account for 5% of their respective tax items.” China said the changes will be implemented “as soon as possible” after “necessary domestic procedures” are finished.
Easing tariffs on U.S. pork exports to China would significantly help both the U.S. agricultural economy and the U.S.’s trade deficit with China, the National Pork Producers Council said in a Nov. 26 press release. An analysis by the NPPC and Iowa State University shows U.S. pork sales would generate more than $24 billion in sales over the next 10 years if tariffs on imports to China were eliminated. “Were it not for China’s tariffs that are severely limiting access to American goods and other restrictions, including customs clearance delays, U.S. pork could be an economic powerhouse, creating thousands of new jobs, expanding sales and dramatically slashing our nation’s trade deficit,” Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes said in a statement.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 27 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Although the U.S. trade representative found a way to avoid a congressional vote on a U.S.-Japan trade deal by limiting the size of the initial U.S. tariff reductions, Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee are questioning whether the deal is allowed under the fast-track law. A letter sent Nov. 26, led by Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., and signed by every Democrat on the committee except the chairman and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., did not explicitly say that Democrats believe the law is not being followed, but repeatedly asked under what authority the agreement was reached. Among the specific issues raised were rules of origin or marking rules and whether there would be changes. The letter also asked if there is such a provision, why wasn't it mentioned in the notification to Congress.
Canada is seeking public input “to ensure continued efficiency and effectiveness in administering Canada’s steel safeguards,” it said in a notice. “The information collected as a result of this consultative exercise will assist Global Affairs Canada in developing an allocation policy for the heavy plate and stainless steel wire [tariff rate quotas (TRQs)] for the period of February 1, 2020, to October 24, 2021,” it said. Since June and through January 2020, the TRQs are being administered through “an allocation pool, available to eligible applicants based on their historical import activities during a reference period” and “a residual pool, available on a first-come, first-served basis to applicants that did not receive an allocation,” it said. Comments are due Dec. 8.
Those who advise NAFTA stakeholders say that it looks like a factory-level inspection regime will be part of what Democrats get in their edits to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but how disruptive that will be for businesses is completely cloudy. Kellie Meiman Hock, a managing partner at McLarty Associates, said she thinks there are ways the inspections could be done that would not make Mexico feel like American government officials are deciding whether Mexican labor laws are being followed. Hock said the two governments could select inspectors who travel together, or it could be a coalition of non-governmental organizations, as was mobilized after more than 1,000 textile workers died in a factory collapse in Bangladesh.