Asia

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking public comments on South Korea's World Trade Organization challenge of U.S. safeguard restrictions on imports of large residential washers.

The U.S. may be using tariffs on Chinese goods as a way to pursue broader disengagement with Beijing, rather than as leverage to make a deal solely on trade, analysts and U.S. businesses said this week, dimming hopes of a near-term resolution to the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

“Given the 10 percent tariff is scheduled to rise to 25 percent on January 1, we urge you to immediately reconsider this decision.”

The new bid is expected to cover more state-owned enterprises as well as most of its provinces.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has formally notified Congress of the administration's intent to negotiate trade agreements with the European Union, United Kingdom and Japan.

The House members lament what they call a “glaring omission” given the size of the list.

Washington and Seoul will hold consultations under the auspices of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement to discuss revising the rules of origin for textile products that are not commercially available in either country.

The U.S. initially put forward a provision in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement that was “very rigid on trade” with China, but was persuaded to soften it, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week.