Panelists talking about the future of the World Trade Organization are picturing a world in which the U.S. and China continue to argue about the issues of industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises while other countries ally at the WTO to work on notifications, a binding dispute settlement process and how to share a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus around the globe.
Rep. Ron Kind, one of the leading pro-trade voices in the Democratic caucus, told the Washington International Trade Association that Trade Promotion Authority will not get a renewal vote this year. The legislation, which allows fast-track approval of trade agreements, is good through June 30, 2021. “That might be a reach too far, here in this election cycle,” he said in an online interview with WITA on June 3. “I think we’ll have to wait and see how the dust settles in November.”
A Mexican federal official, along with Mexican and U.S. attorneys, believe that Mexican firms will have to sharply change their labor relations policies, but they aren't as sure about how often labor issues will be brought up, in the context of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. If the U.S. government doesn't agree that a Mexican company has come into compliance with Mexican labor laws, it could lead to goods from that producer being barred from USMCA tariff benefits.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said some farmers he spoke to in his home state of Iowa told him they're concerned about trade with China. Grassley told such questioners he's not worried about the trade agreement.
Even as COVID-19 delays some advances in trade facilitation -- such as being able to use a single window to export into Canada -- the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement has good news for it, panelists said during a Dickinson Wright webinar May 28.
President Donald Trump said the administration will begin the process of revoking Hong Kong's special status, including the fact that it's treated more leniently than China with regard to “export controls on dual-use technologies, with few exceptions.” He said Hong Kong would no longer be treated as a separate customs territory, but gave no details during a May 29 press conference about how long it would be until the changes take effect.
President Donald Trump said that the administration will begin the process of revoking Hong Kong's differential treatment from China, including its more lenient "export controls on dual-use technologies, with few exceptions."
At a time that the World Trade Organization is under stress -- its appellate body disbanded, and its director general quitting before his term is up -- member countries are also resisting moving proceedings online. Nigel Cory, associate director of trade policy for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said other groups have “shifted these critical high-level meetings online,” but the WTO canceled its June ministerial meeting. Cory said that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is negotiating online on the matter of digital taxes, so it is showing it can be done.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said his desire to give Congress more power to determine when national security tariffs are warranted is stymied by a lack of votes in his committee.
Mexico's Economy Minister Luz de la Mora said that the uniform regulations that pertain to issues outside the auto industry will be ready by July 1 -- but strongly suggested that the uniform regulations will not be ready by the date of entry into force of the U.S.‐Mexico‐Canada Agreement. “There has been great progress on non-auto URs, and they will be ready by July 1, as for the auto rules of origin, we expect to advance substantially in coming weeks,” she said during a Cato Institute interview May 27. She said that Mexico wants “to make sure the transition to the new regime is effective, efficient.”