On December 13, 2019, the Office of the US Trade Representative announced that United States and China have reached “an historic and enforceable agreement” on a Phase One trade deal that requires structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange. The Phase One agreement also includes a commitment by China that it will make substantial additional…
A period of uncertainty is currently affecting the WTO dispute settlement system: Its Appellate Body is normally composed of seven members but currently only has three, the minimum number to function. On 10 December 2019, the mandates of two of the remaining three Appellate Body members expire and the organization will no longer be able to decide on appeals in trade disputes between WTO members. The process to fill the vacancies has faltered in 2016…
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has posted on its website an advance copy of a Federal Register notice [Docket No. USTR-2019-0003] that advises the public that USTR is reviewing the action being taken in the Section 301 investigation involving the enforcement of U.S. WTO rights in the Large Civil Aircraft dispute. Annex I to the notice contains a list of products currently subject to 10% or 25% additional duties (See 84 Fed.…
On 6 December 2019, the WTO announced that at a meeting of the full WTO membership on 6 December, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo emphasised that for dispute settlement as for rule-making, the choices members make in the coming months would be consequential for the future of the multilateral trading system. He also welcomed a compromise reached in the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration on the WTO’s budget for 2020. In his remarks, the Director-General said…
On December 2, 2019, the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it had completed the first segment of its investigation under section 301(b)(1)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974 (the Trade Act) and concluded that France’s Digital Services Tax (DST) discriminates against US companies. USTR’s investigation began on July 10, 2019, and solicited comments on the DST’s Discrimination, retroactivity and unreasonable tax policy. A report available on USTR’s website sets out the findings of the investigation. The DST…
On December 2, 2019, President Trump sent a tweet which stated ” Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies. which is not good for our farmers. Therefore, effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries. The Federal … Reserve should likewise act so that countries, of which there are many, no longer take advantage of our…
On November 26, 2019, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) posted on its website, an advance copy of a notice to be published in the Federal Register granting exclusions to 32 specially prepared product descriptions, which cover 39 separate requests for exclusion from the $200Bn Action. In accordance with the June 24 notice establishing an exclusion process for Tranche 3 (84 Fed. Reg. 29576), the exclusions are available for any product that meets…
On November 15, 2019, in Transpacific Steel LLC v. United States (Slip Op. 19-142), a three judge panel of the US Court of International Trade (CIT), based upon the facts alleged, found that Transpacific Steel LLC’s (“Plaintiff”) arguments that the President failed to follow the procedure set forth in the statute and, further, that singling out importers from Turkey violated the equal protection guarantees under the US Constitution, support its claim for a refund and…
This is a reminder that on October 31, 2019, the US Trade Representative published in the Federal Register a notice [Docket Number USTR–2019–0019] requesting comments on whether to extend particular exclusions from the Sec. 301 tariffs on Chinese products granted in December 2018 that are set to expire on December 28, 2019. Comments [including requests by importers and/or purchasers] should be submitted by November 30, 2019 through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov using Docket No.…
On November 13, 2019, the US Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice (previously posted as an advance copy) that announces USTR’s determination to grant certain exclusion requests, as specified in the annex to the notice from the additional duties on goods of China with an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion (Tranche 3) as part of the action in the Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices related…