USTR

“We have somebody who is an experienced trade lawyer who understands how the Hill works, which is, I think, enabling the new administration to hit the ground running.”

Brazil’s decision to impose a 20 percent tariff on all U.S. ethanol imports this week, after market-access talks ended without a deal, has drawn the ire of industry groups now calling on the incoming Biden administration to respond in kind.

The U.S. and India are not “far away” from concluding a limited market-access deal that likely won’t be forged before the end of the Trump administration, outgoing U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Wednesday, advocating for a comprehensive trade agreement between the two.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Tuesday said renewing the Generalized System of Preferences could be “very difficult” before it expires at the end of the year.

Exclusion extensions would “help with pandemic response” and “save jobs, businesses, and livelihoods,” they wrote.

President-elect Joe Biden’s choice for U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, said on Friday that she planned to “harness” U.S. trade relationships to help the administration revitalize the economy.

“America’s labor movement was proud to partner with her to craft the North American Free Trade Agreement’s long-overdue replacement … with enforceable labor rights at its core.”

House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) this week continued to press the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to take enforcement actions he said would "support Mexico’s labor reform" and address "persistent" violations, but sources say the coronavirus pandemic has made it challenging to submit and process challenges.

“We can’t have trade agreements and obligations being nullified by these seven people and a staff that really controls them.”