China

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday issued a long-awaited withhold-release order on all cotton and tomato products from China’s Xinjiang region, citing the use of forced labor in the Chinese province.

The new deadline is March 31.

The Biden administration should take a more multilateral approach to trade policy, New Democrat Coalition Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) tells Inside U.S. Trade, singling out digital rules, its approach to China and efforts to curb steel and aluminum overcapacity.

“I very much doubt that the growth rate of China would depend on what the U.S. does,” said the director of the Centre for European Policy Studies.

The agreement in principle the European Union and China announced in the closing days of 2020 is a substantial diplomatic victory for Beijing as it prepares to deal with an incoming Biden administration that has vowed to rally allies – like the EU – to pressure China to curb its most egregious practices.

The fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act -- passed last week -- is laden with provisions designed to bolster the U.S. supply chains for rare earth elements and assess whether to bar imports of such materials from foreign adversaries.

The European Union should not enter into an investment agreement with China without first working with President-elect Biden and the 117th Congress to combat Beijing’s trade practices, Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) said in a statement on Monday.