On May 18, 2017, newly-confirmed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer formally notified Congress that President Trump intends to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Trump Administration has indicated that it will request public input on the “direction, focus, and content” of these negotiations, and will publish notice in the Federal Register regarding … Continue Reading
Just one week after launching a national security investigation of steel imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, President Trump has announced plans to institute a similar investigation regarding aluminum. In a memorandum of April 27, 2017, President Trump announced that the Secretary of Commerce had initiated an investigation under Section … Continue Reading
On April 26, 2017, the U.S.-based solar manufacturer Suniva, Inc. filed a petition for global safeguards with the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”). In particular, Suniva requests the imposition of tariffs on solar cells and the establishment of a minimum price for solar modules imported into the United States. The petition was filed under Section … Continue Reading
On April 20, 2017, President Trump issued a memorandum announcing that the Secretary of Commerce had initiated an investigation to determine the effects of imported steel on national security. The investigation was initiated under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended. I. Conduct of Section 232 Investigations Under Section 232, Secretary … Continue Reading
On Friday, April 14, the U.S. Department of Treasury published a widely anticipated semi-annual report detailing the foreign exchange practices of America’s major trading partners. Although he regularly called for China to be labeled as a “currency manipulator” as a candidate, President Donald J. Trump and his administration declined to use the occasion of this … Continue Reading
During the 2016 presidential campaign, President Trump made clear his plans to chart a new course on U.S. trade policy. The first few days of his presidency indicate his commitment to follow through on these plans. In his Inaugural Address, President Trump included trade among the policy areas that would be guided by an “America … Continue Reading
Cross-Strait Relations In her year-end press conference on December 31, 2016, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen focused on her administration’s domestic policy agenda but also noted Beijing’s increasing pressure on Taiwan since she took office on May 20. Beijing has cut off high-level communications between the two sides (while maintaining ties with the former KMT party), … Continue Reading
In October 2014, the Nagoya Protocol entered into force. It created a new international regulatory system affecting all life science companies that conduct R&D on biological material such as animals, seeds, flowers, viruses, fragrances, flavonoids, essential oils, enzymes, yeasts, and so on. So far, compliance by companies is progressing slowly due to unawareness of the … Continue Reading
President-elect Donald Trump made trade policy a key issue in his campaign and has declared his interest in either withdrawing from or renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Government officials from Mexico and Canada have publicly stated that their respective governments are open to renegotiating the treaty. As a result, companies that do … Continue Reading
In a notice published in Friday’s Federal Register, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC or Commission) has issued interim rules implementing the new miscellaneous tariff bill process mandated by Congress in the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016. The rules create a new pathway for U.S. manufacturers to seek temporary suspension or reduction of tariffs … Continue Reading
When the dust settles on 2016, and Congress is receiving year-end grades from political pundits, voters and even self-evaluations from the Members themselves, there will no doubt be a common refrain that election year politics, gridlock and a short legislative calendar have yet again left too many important issues unresolved. But one important piece of … Continue Reading
The United Steelworkers union (USW) on April 18 filed a petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) for the U.S. to invoke a global safeguard under Section 201 of U.S. trade law and impose tariffs of up to 50 percent on primary unwrought aluminum. This proceeding could have significant impacts on global aluminum producers … Continue Reading
Since President Obama announced the normalization of U.S. relations with Cuba in December of 2014, U.S. businesses have begun to plan for the eventual lifting of U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba. While the Obama Administration has taken a number of steps to jumpstart interactions between U.S. businesses and the Cuban private sector, including easing travel … Continue Reading
With the demise of the Doha Development Round at the WTO Ministerial in Nairobi this past December, the multilateral approach to global trade negotiations has largely ended. Given that the number of regional trade agreements has increased from 70 in 1990 to more than 270 today, it appears that it is every region for itself … Continue Reading
We think a new trade enforcement tool is needed that would give US companies an opportunity to seek Trade Enforcement Advisory Opinions from the International Trade Commission (ITC). We describe this proposal in an op-ed piece that was up on Politico today. Our proposal is that Congress should expand its use of Section 332 beyond … Continue Reading
After more than 5 years of negotiations between partner countries (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement was finalized in October 2015 and will be confirmed through a formal signing ceremony on February 4th in New Zealand. Although the terms … Continue Reading
Note: This post is the third in a series of posts on the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by Covington’s International and Public Policy lawyers. The final TPP text, which was released on November 5, 2015, is available here. TPP is not expected to enter into force until at least 2016, with the … Continue Reading
Note: This post is the second in a series of posts on the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by Covington’s International and Public Policy lawyers. The final TPP text, which was released on November 5, 2015, is available here. TPP is not expected to enter into force until at least 2016, with the timeline … Continue Reading
Note: This is the first of a series of posts on the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by Covington’s International and Public Policy lawyers. The final TPP text, which was released on November 5, 2015, is available here. TPP is not expected to enter into force until at least 2016, with the timeline dependent … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) announced that they have reached an agreement. While this represents a significant milestone after more than five years of intensive negotiations, there is still a long road ahead before this agreement can enter into force for the United States – from releasing text to the … Continue Reading
For years, many observers treated Africa’s plans for regional integration with a healthy dose of skepticism. Though the skepticism remains, what has changed is the wide-spread acknowledgement and elevated importance of regional economic integration to grow Africa’s economies, create jobs for its rapidly growing youth population, and improve lives. Last month’s AGOA Forum, hosted by … Continue Reading
Proponents of increased U.S. trade with Cuba rightly point to the potential economic benefits to U.S. exporters, particularly in the food and agriculture sector, from greater trade. But achieving that potential may take more than the lifting of the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba. A forthcoming study from the U.S. International Trade Commission promises a … Continue Reading
Last week’s House vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which passed 219-211, was no doubt confusing to many of our trading partners. While a majority of the House supported TPA, as a majority of the Senate had last month, the TPA bill was politically and procedurally linked to another bill that would assist workers harmed … Continue Reading
On Thursday of last week and with a vote of 97-1, the U.S. Senate approved the “Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015,” which includes reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). With this action, the Senate seeks to reaffirm the “centerpiece of trade relations between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa,” as well … Continue Reading
