Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he sent a second round of letters to automakers and a round of letters to tier 1 suppliers about their ties to Xinjiang (see 2303280069) because he was disappointed by the tenor of the responses to his first round of letters in December.
Mara Lee
Mara Lee, Senior Editor, is a reporter for International Trade Today and its sister publications Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. She joined the Warren Communications News staff in early 2018, after covering health policy, Midwestern Congressional delegations, and the Connecticut economy, insurance and manufacturing sectors for the Hartford Courant, the nation’s oldest continuously published newspaper (established 1674). Before arriving in Washington D.C. to cover Congress in 2005, she worked in Ohio, where she witnessed fervent presidential campaigning every four years.
After Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., heard from automakers that they ask their suppliers to pledge that they do not source inputs made with forced labor, he turned his attention to tier 1 suppliers to the major automakers, and is asking them the same questions he asked the eight major automakers back in December (see 2212220045). Although he asked automakers to detail how they do supply chain mapping, and asked if any of their goods have been subject to forced labor detentions, the companies did not reply with details.
The U.S. and Japan signed an agreement in Washington "formalizing the shared commitment of the Parties to facilitate trade, promote fair competition and market-oriented conditions for trade in critical minerals." The mini-deal that includes pledges not to impose export duties on the products, investment review within their countries for the sector, and a pledge to "confer on potential effective and appropriate domestic measures to address non-market policies and practices" that affect trade in critical minerals and critical minerals supply chains.
In more than four hours of questioning during a hearing March 24 before the House Ways and Means Committee, no member of Congress advocated for lessening tariffs on Chinese goods under Section 301, or for reopening exclusions applications.
Rep. Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said "there could be" movement on the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, now expired more than two years, "but I think it has to be part of a broader trade agreement."
Almost five years after the first round of 25% tariffs were put on Chinese imports, it was trade irritants with Mexico and India, as well as concerns about tariff preference programs and the lack of a market-opening strategy, that senators dwelled on during the U.S. Trade Representative's appearance in front of the Finance Committee.
Critical mineral arrangements with the EU or other allies are likely to end up in court, Georgetown Law Professor Kathleen Claussen said during a discussion of the legality of a mini deal with the EU. There are two facets of the legality question -- is a sectoral agreement legal under World Trade Organization rules about nondiscrimination, and does the administration have the authority to qualify these agreements as free trade agreements, as it implements the Inflation Reduction Act.
The top trade official in the EU, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, said a critical minerals agreement that would secure "FTA-equivalent treatment" under the Inflation Reduction Act incentives could happen within "a few months."
Although former Mexican officials are pleased with the conciseness and clarity of the USMCA panel ruling against the U.S. interpretation of the auto rules of origin, they have no confidence it will be followed this year.
The office of the Mexican Economy Secretary said it agrees with the U.S. that there is reason to investigate Unique Fabricating, a Michigan-headquartered manufacturer that makes foam, rubber and plastic components such as seals, door water shields, gaskets and glove box liners. Transformation Sindical told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that managers at the plant in Queretaro, Mexico, denied them the ability to visit with workers at the site and give them the option of joining their union (see 2303090038). Mexico's government said March 17 that it will begin an investigation to see if workers at the plant were denied their rights to join an independent union. The USMCA Rapid Response Mechanism allows 45 days for that investigation.