Phase One implementation begins
US officials continued to affirm this week that no request from China to delay implementation of the Phase One trade deal had been received, and that it was on track despite concerns about COVID-19. In a move that could pave the way for the increased purchases outlined in the expanding trade chapter of the deal, including agricultural products, China announced a new list of products that will be eligible for tariff exclusions. Yesterday, the United...
Tariff hike suspended; Lighthizer discusses progress made in trade talks
In a Federal Register Notice released this week, the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR)...
Liu He will visit the United States next week despite confusion about preparatory meeting
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will meet with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin next week from January 30 to 31, continuing the negotiations that began at the mid-level meetings from January 7 to 9. The high-level meeting will proceed according to plan despite reports that preparatory meetings were cancelled for this week. Few details are known about...
Internal work begins on US trade priorities for Trump-Xi meeting at G20
According to news reports, President Donald Trump’s phone call with President Xi Jinping on Thursday has prompted the administration to initiate an internal process of identifying potential terms of an agreement to address US trade concerns when the presidents meet after the G20 summit on December 1. The meeting was rescheduled from November 29 to upgrade it from discussions on the sidelines of the G20 to a “...
US and China finalize tariffs on $16 billion of goods; more tariffs on the horizon while talks are pushed back by the administration
On Wednesday, the United States and China finalized their lists of $16 billion worth of goods on which they will impose 25 percent tariffs against each other starting August 23. Once the tariffs on the $16 billion of goods go into effect, the US and China will have imposed tariffs on a total of $50 billion of goods from each side. The United States...
Erin Ennis, vice president of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), testified today before the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee on a wide range of issues, including competition enforcement, regulatory transparency, intellectual property rights (IPR), and China’s broader compliance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments.
In her testimony, Ennis said China remains a valuable market for US companies, but one that could be more valuable if market barriers and...
Key Trade Nominees Approved by Senate
The Senate approved Robert Holleyman as Deputy US Trade Representative and Nathan Sheets as Under Secretary for International Affairs at the US Treasury Department yesterday. The approvals fill the remaining deputy-level positions overseeing US commercial relations with China in the Obama administration’s second term.
Holleyman replaces Demetrios Marantis, who left the post in May 2013. Holleyman is expected to cover a portfolio...
Assistant Secretary of State tells Senate US priorities for upcoming dialogue
A “new model” of US-China relations should not be"defined by strategic rivalry, but by fair and healthy competition…practical cooperation on priority issues, and by constructive management of our differences and disagreements,” Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Danny Russel said yesterday at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing focused on regional...
China has stated its interest in joining the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) negotiations, according to a BNA report. If it formally joins the negotiations, China’s participation would add new dimension and complexity to the talks, and would correspond with China’s stated intention to pursue “proactive strategies” to strengthen its services sector. The TISA negotiations, launched in 2013, seek to remove barriers and increase market openings originally covered in the 1995 General Trade in...
