Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, whose department is responsible for three of the four pillars in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, told a think tank audience that she is "determined to finalize agreements with all of these countries on all three pillars I’m managing" by a summit at the end of November. The IPEF, which does not liberalize tariffs but does seek to lower non-tariff barriers in its trade pillar, also includes a tax and anti-corruption pillar, an infrastructure and decarbonization pillar, and a supply chain pillar, which was already agreed to earlier this year.
A readout from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative after the latest round of talks between the trade representative and her EU counterpart on a steel and aluminum deal suggested she does not think the EU is thinking big enough. The U.S. and the EU are trying to agree on a system that would preference steel and aluminum made with a lower carbon footprint, and, at the same time, a system that would keep metals produced through non-market excess capacity out of their countries.
The Census Bureau emailed tips last week on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System.
The House Select Committee on China's chairman and ranking member acknowledged that momentum for legislation on TikTok has dissipated, but Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said that behind the scenes he and others are working on "compromise language that will avoid some of the pitfalls of the Senate's approach, which a lot of people on my side felt was too broad ... which still does what we want it to do, which is ban [TikTok] or force a sale."
The European Council on July 20 renewed and expanded the temporary suspension of all tariffs and the entry-price system on seven agricultural products from Moldova for another year. The measures will now lapse July 24, 2024. The seven agricultural goods subject to the measures, which allow imports of the products to the EU, are plums, table grapes, apples, tomatoes, garlic, cherries and grape juice. The council's expansion of the measures also includes "more stringent reporting obligations" and says the Committee on Safeguards, rather than the Customs Code Committee, likely will be involved in implementing the safeguard mechanism.
A bill that says the Taiwan trade initiative can't take effect until the administration submits an economic analysis of its effects and answers questions from Congress on implementation has passed both chambers of Congress. The bill also says the next deal between Taiwan and the U.S. must gain congressional approval.
The Federal Maritime Commission published its spring 2023 regulatory agenda and continued to mention several rules to implement the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, including a proposed rule to define unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods that violate U.S. shipping regulations. The FMC said it plans to issue that rule in December.
The Global Investment in American Jobs Act, a bill that directs the administration to produce a report on the effect of trade barriers to U.S. digital exports and on the extent of foreign direct investment in U.S. companies by state-owned enterprises, passed the House of Representatives by a 386-22 vote July 17. There is no similar bill introduced in the Senate.
The Commerce Department published its spring 2023 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau, including new rules that will add more entities to the Entity List and finalize new export filing requirements.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced that USTR Katherine Tai will travel to Brussels July 20-21, on her way back from Kenya.