Trump’s new special assistant on international trade, investment and development on the National Economic Council once helped guide negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Andrew Quinn, a former deputy chief negotiator of the TPP who was hired by the agency as deputy assistant USTR in 2012, joined the council on Monday. [Adam Behsudi| February 28, 2016 |Politico]…
China will submit a sixth revised offer to join the World Trade Organization’s plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement that is expected to cover more state-owned enterprises and more provinces than its previous offers, according to Geneva sources. [Daily News| February 27, 2016 |Inside US Trade] The move by China, which submitted its last revised offer in December…
Trade attorney Stephen Vaughn will be named the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s general counsel if USTR nominee Robert Lighthizer is confirmed, and Gilbert Kaplan will be tapped for Commerce under secretary for international trade provided Commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross is approved by the Senate, according to multiple sources. [Daily News| February 23,…
President Trump said this week he supports “a form of tax on the border because everybody else does.” [Daily News| February 24, 2016 |Inside US Trade] In an interview with Reuters, Trump was asked about a border adjustability tax proposal being pushed by House GOP leaders despite the objections of retailers and strong skepticism among key…
Washington’s latest trade controversy has blown up over a dispute over differing sets of statistics for measuring our foreign trade. Trump administration officials are advocating for wider use of export/import measures that exclude pass-through goods, while Commerce Department officials advocate the older measures, total exports and total imports. by Jeff Ferry, appears on The Hill The newer…
The senior adviser who led President Donald Trump’s trade transition team suggested to Business Insider that the next trade agreement that could come under fire from the White House was the US’s participation in the World Trade Organization. [Allan Smith| February 26, 2016 |Business Insider] Dan DiMicco, the former Nucor CEO and board member of…
Tomi’s “Final Thoughts” are based on her experience as a midwestern girl who grew up in a small state in a family and community of ranchers and farmers. Not as a political commentator, conservative or “that girl from facebook.” She remarks that people like her family are struggling to survive right now thanks to the big meat packers…
Wilbur Ross is expected to emerge as the Trump administration’s leading voice on trade after the Senate votes tonight to confirm him as Commerce Department secretary. He’s already singled out a surprising pet project: Reducing America’s reliance on seafood imports. [Megan Cassella| February 27, 2016 |Politico] “Given the enormity of our coastlines, given the enormity of our…
The White House and members of Congress are in consultations over a slew of new bilateral trade deals, chief White House strategist Steve Bannon said today, adding that President Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a monumental historic event. [Daily News| February 23 2016 |Inside US Trade] The White House…
President Donald Trump declared China the “grand champions” of currency manipulation on Thursday, just hours after his new Treasury secretary pledged a more methodical approach to analyzing Beijing’s foreign exchange practices. [Steve Holland and David Lawder| February 24 2016 |Reuters] In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Trump said he has not “held back” in his assessment that…
