USTR

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.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week established a task force to address supply chain and trade disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

“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.

“He gave me a litany of problems with it but no real definitive strategy or plan in moving forward."

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.

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 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced plans to hold April hearings in Florida and Georgia on seasonal produce issues.

The United Kingdom is pressing the U.S. to remove its retaliatory tariffs on British products as a show of good faith in the upcoming trade negotiations, UK Secretary of International Trade Liz Truss said on Monday.

Congress should exercise its “power of the purse” to force the Commerce Department to release its Section 232 report on auto imports and compel testimony from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative if necessary, Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) said this week.