USTR

“If the duty rate ... is raised to 25 percent, USTR will initiate an appropriate exclusion process,” Lighthizer told Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).

NEW ORLEANS -- Hoping for stronger and more “predictable” trade policies, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) said on Sunday that he plans to hold hearings this year to question top administration trade officials.

Trade ministers from the U.S., EU and Japan focused on non-market oriented policies and practices during a meeting in Washington, DC, this week, and instructed staff to finalize text on industrial subsidies in hopes of engaging other World Trade Organization members on the issue this spring, according to a joint statement.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will run out of funds and furlough most of its staff on Monday if the government shutdown is not resolved by then, sources have told Inside U.S. Trade.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Friday requested consultations with Lima under the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement for what he said was a violation of the country's environmental obligations under the deal.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative last week released a list of more than 30 products it will exclude from 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese imports, marking the first exemptions granted from Section 301 restrictions the U.S. imposed last year.