The European Commission on March 22 proposed increasing tariffs on imports of cereals, oilseeds and derivative products from Russia and Belarus, including "wheat, maize, and sunflower meal." The European Council will next review the proposal.
If Donald Trump is elected to a second presidential term, his administration should focus on communicating better with other governments and American companies about upcoming policy decisions, said Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative.
China said it has “expressed great concern” with the EU over a decision by the bloc earlier this month to begin customs registration for Chinese electric vehicle imports, setting them up to face retroactive tariffs if an ongoing EU investigation concludes they benefited from unfair subsidies.
If the Senate Commerce Committee takes up a House-passed bill that would ban TikTok if China’s ByteDance does not divest itself of the popular social media application, committee members probably will propose “multiple amendments” to improve the legislation, the panel’s top Republican said last week.
Twenty-two Republican senators -- including the top Republicans on the Senate Finance and Agriculture committees and one of the front-runners to replace Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- argue that the "current sharp decline in U.S. agricultural exports is directly attributable to and exacerbated by an unambitious U.S. trade strategy that is failing to meaningfully expand market access or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade."
Four House Republican Cuban-Americans urged the Biden administration March 8 to retain Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, saying the label and its accompanying sanctions remain warranted.
House Republican conservatives introduced a bill to restrict outbound investment in Chinese tech companies, require the administration to impose sanctions "on entities knowingly engaging in a pattern of theft of American IP," and impose sanctions on "Chinese officials and entities until they have stopped the flow of deadly fentanyl, and we’ve determined that fentanyl overdoses/deaths have dropped by 98%." It also said the administration must sanction "Chinese apps that steal U.S. citizens’ data and protect personal health data from China."
The Biden administration and Congress should wield a wide range of tools to choke off Iran’s oil exports, which are fueling Tehran’s support for terrorist groups, a former State Department official said Feb. 28.
Mexican Economy Secretary Raquel Buenrostro said in Mexico this week that if the U.S. reimposes 25% tariffs on Mexican steel exports over alleged surges, Mexico will retaliate. Mexico's steel exports are only 2.5% of the U.S. market, and U.S. steel exports are 14% of the Mexican market, so the U.S. has more to lose if Section 232 tariffs on Mexican steel return, she said.
The Agriculture Trade Caucus asked the administration to negotiate market-access trade agreements, saying it needs "to proactively engage and secure enforceable, high-standard agreements with our trading partners to ensure our farmers and ranchers can compete globally on a level playing field."