Articles Tagged with ''Katherine Tai''

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Thursday that the U.S. and Kenya will begin developing closer ties under a deal that would improve agricultural trade by addressing non-tariff trade barriers.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai argued against lifting tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods Wednesday, saying it would not do much to ease inflation and would remove key leverage she has in negotiations with China.

President Joe Biden intends to nominate Doug McKalip, a senior adviser to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, to be chief agricultural negotiator for the office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The U.S. is again demanding to enter into official consultations with Canada over complaints that Ottawa continues to manipulate its dairy import quotas that stymie U.S. exports, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Wednesday. Those consultations could lead to the U.S. calling for a second dispute panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The Senate is beginning negotiations with the House over legislation aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness abroad, even as there are new signs of division among senators over trade policy, including whether to fully reinstate an exclusion process on Section 301 tariffs on imports from China. 

President Biden’s bid to induce more double cropping of wheat and soybeans would likely have just a modest impact on production, according to an analysis by the American Soybean Association.

The Biden administration has all but ruled out tariff-slashing market access deals when it comes to its proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, but the U.S. ag sector still hopes the agreement will include a trade pillar that boosts exports to rapidly growing markets that are home to a patchwork of regulatory restrictions and non-tariff trade barriers.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai continued her defense of a Biden trade agenda that does not so far include traditional free trade agreements with other nations, but several senators strenuously pushed back, arguing that the U.S. is being left behind on the international stage as China pushes forward with new tariff-slashing pacts.

Eighty-seven House members have signed a letter urging the Biden administration to focus on improving agriculture trade as it builds foreign relationships under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

President Joe Biden will release his fiscal 2023 budget on Monday, just six months before the new budget year begins, while Senate leaders search for a way to move a bill aimed at relieving port bottlenecks.