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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, like all other federal agencies, is adapting to life during a global pandemic that has radically overhauled how many work. But how, exactly, the new reality is affecting its operations is not known -- and USTR isn’t saying.
Dan DiMicco, a member of USTR’s chief advisory panel and a longtime adviser to President Trump, said the administration’s trade team is working on business as usual despite complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Why would the U.S. increase the cost and difficulty of supplying protective gear to doctors and nurses? Why would Washington obstruct the acquisition of lifesaving equipment?”
Efforts to ensure a host of labor and enforcement commitments required by the time the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement enters into force -- which could be as soon as June 1 -- are picking up speed, according to government officials.
The agency said it was following the recommendations of the CDC amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“This is a time when countries should be cooperating and helping one another, not following an ‘all for me’ approach.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday notified Capitol Hill that the Trump administration plans to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal with Kenya, setting up the start of negotiations as early as mid-June.
As the Trump administration works to appease seasonal growers, Mexico is mulling how it might retaliate if trade restrictions are imposed on its agricultural exports, government and private-sector officials tell Inside U.S. Trade.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week established a task force to address supply chain and trade disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
The notification will start a 90-day clock ahead of talks with Nairobi.
“We’ll look at the differences, and we'll do it the way two partners do: Talking about it, preferably discreetly,” the Spanish foreign affairs minister said.
The Trump administration is pushing to ensure the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement enters into force by June 1, sources familiar with the plan told Inside U.S. Trade.
“He gave me a litany of problems with it but no real definitive strategy or plan in moving forward."
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week will consult with House and Senate advisory groups before officially notifying Congress of the administration’s intent to initiate trade talks with Kenya, he told Inside U.S. Trade on Wednesday.
Democrats on the House Ways & Means Committee told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday that the administration should consider lifting tariffs to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but several members said he was not receptive to the proposal.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week is expected to notify Capitol Hill of the administration’s intent to begin trade talks with Kenya, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade.
The U.S. International Trade Commission last week said boosting the number of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells that can be imported under the Trump administration’s safeguard measure on solar imports would likely reduce the cost burden on U.S. module manufacturers and improve domestic profitability.
The House bill contains softer language than its Senate companion, which called for trade talks with “the goal of entering into a free trade agreement.”
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced plans to hold April hearings in Florida and Georgia on seasonal produce issues.