Talks toward a comprehensive trade agreement with the United Kingdom would likely continue under a Joe Biden administration, though when a deal could be reached is unclear, K&L Gates partner Stacy Ettinger said during a webinar on how trade policy would change if there is an administration change after the election, or progress if there is a second Trump administration. Ettinger, a staffer for Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., before joining the private sector, was joined by former White House trade staffer Clete Willems, now at Akin Gump, during a webinar Oct. 20 hosted by American University's law school.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that the trade facilitation agreement that the U.S. and Brazil signed Oct. 19 is very similar to the USMCA trade facilitation chapter, and that traders should expect more incremental progress in coming months. “There’s a lot more that needs to be done,” Lighthizer said during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce program Oct. 20. “We have ongoing negotiations on ethanol. Brazilians like to talk about sugar. There’s a variety of things in the agriculture area.”
A bipartisan letter from 33 House members representing pecan-growing states asks U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to argue for lower tariffs on U.S. pecans imported by India as part of an agreement to reinstate that country's participation in the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program. The Oct. 15 letter, led by Georgia Reps. Austin Scott (R) and Sanford Bishop (D), said the 36% tariff on pecans makes it difficult for American producers to compete in the market.
The United Kingdom completed its second round of trade negotiations with Australia (see 2006170014) and plans to hold the third round in November, the U.K. said Oct. 12. The U.K. called the talks “productive” and said both countries have committed to “removing trade barriers and creating new opportunities for business.” Negotiators discussed a range of trade issues, including rules of origin, the role of state-owned companies, intellectual property, trade remedies and technical barriers to trade.
The European Union and the U.S. should negotiate a limited trade deal on medical supplies and equipment, and environmental goods and services that is open to other World Trade Organization members that agree to the commitments, according to a think tank report issued Oct. 6. The German Marshall Fund of the United States also called for consultation between the EU and the U.S. on financial sanctions on third countries when those sanctions “will have an adverse impact on alliance partners,” and it said those sanctions should have limits.
China and Norway held another round of free trade agreement discussions (see 2009110008), with China again pushing for faster negotiations to help mitigate trade impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, an Oct. 7 notice from China’s commerce ministry said, according to an unofficial translation. The two sides discussed trade remedies, intellectual property issues, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and trade disputes, China said. “The two sides believe that speeding up negotiations on the free trade agreement is very important for the two countries to jointly fight the” pandemic, the notice said. “The two countries pledged to end the negotiations as soon as possible.”
The U.S.-Japan mini-deal is not consistent with World Trade Organization rules, a former White House trade negotiator said, so the two sides mentioned a future phase two deal to cover substantially all trade to convince Japan's parliament to pass the accord. Because of the way the deal was structured, with small tariff reductions for Japanese exporters, it did not require a vote in Congress, Clete Willems, speaking recently on a webinar for University of Nebraska students, said. In calling the mini-deal phase one, “I think both sides were playing it cute, to be honest,” Willems, now at Akin Gump, said. He said Japan was not interested in a comprehensive bilateral trade deal, because it still wants the U.S. to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
A lead negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership released a paper arguing that reentering the rebranded Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TPP is still the best way to deal with China's trade distorting practices, but her paper, and speakers on a Sept. 30 webinar, revealed the many barriers to reentry.
The U.S. and the United Kingdom completed a fourth round of free trade agreement negotiations last week and have moved into the “advanced stages” in most areas, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said Sept. 22. The two sides “exchanged their first tariff offers” before the fourth round began, leading to “detailed market access discussions” during the round of negotiations. “Significant progress has been achieved since launching negotiations,” the agency said, calling the exchange of tariff offers a “notable milestone.” The U.K. said “the speed at which this stage has been reached demonstrates the momentum behind these negotiations.” The two sides plan to hold the fifth round of talks in mid- to late October, the U.K. said, again with discussions taking place before it begins. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not comment.
European Union Director General for Trade Sabine Weyand said the EU has made another offer to settle the Boeing-Airbus dispute. “There's a lot we need to do to calm down the tensions in our relationship,” she said during a Sept. 15 webinar hosted by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She pointed to the deal on lobster tariffs as good but small. “It's the first tariff liberalization we have done in 20 years” between the U.S. and EU, she noted.