UNION URGES STRICTER MFN TARIFFS: The United Auto Workers union is pressing the Biden administration to consider raising tariffs on automotives and parts to encourage industry compliance with the USMCA, as the North American partners gear up for a 2026 review. The UAW told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that at the time of ratification, the group did not believe the revised version of the North American Free Trade Agreement went far enough to rebalance automotive trade in the region. “Today, the UAW’s position remains unchanged,” the union said in recent comments submitted in response to USTR's request for input on its review of automotive trade. “The UAW is calling to specifically increase MFN [most favored nations] tariffs rates on automobiles and automotive parts, particularly electric vehicles and related components,” the comments added. The United States already imposes a 2.5 percent tariff on imports of passenger vehicles from countries with most favored nations status, but that value is “out of step with the rest of the world” and not steep enough to “change bad actors' behavior,” they said. Furthermore, any additional investment from the USMCA’s Rules of Origin provisions are “clearly being disproportionately directed into Mexico at the expense of the United States,” according to the remarks. Reminder: The rules of origin dispute, which has long loomed over North American trade relations, comes down to two conflicting methods of calculating the origins for a car's parts: one strict, one more flexible. While the Americans pushed for the toughest of interpretations, Mexico and Canada objected, calling the method counterproductive to the entire continent’s automotive industry. A trade dispute settlement panel sided with Canada and Mexico in late 2022, and while Canada still believes it can eventually reach a negotiated settlement with the Biden administration, there has been no agreement so far. Industry gets anxious: The American Automotive Policy Council, which represents Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., and Stellantis, urged the administration to resolve the dispute within a "reasonable implementation timeline.” Others, such as Autos Drive America, which represents international automakers with facilities in the U.S., called on the president to comply with the panel ruling. “This administration’s decision to delay implementation has only prolonged ... costs and uncertainties, further undercutting jobs and investments and undermining the rule of law,” it wrote. The contention could come to a head next month, as stakeholders gear up for a public hearing scheduled for Feb. 7. USTR must submit a report on automotive trade to Senate Finance and the Ways and Means committee in the House by July at the latest. TAIWAN TAX DEAL ADVANCES; CHINA GRUMBLES: The House Ways and Means Committee is one step closer to eliminating double taxation between the United States and Taiwan at a time of heightened tensions between the independent strip and Beijing. The Taiwan deal is part of the broader $78 billion Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, which cleared the House panel by a wide margin on Friday, paving the way for the measure to see a full vote on the House floor. The measure would "strengthen America's competitive position with China by removing the current double taxation that exists for businesses and workers with a footprint in both the United States and Taiwan," the committee said in a statement following the vote. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy panned the deal in comments to Morning Trade, reiterating that China “firmly opposes any form of official exchanges" between the United States and Taiwan, which includes the "negotiation and signing of any economic and trade agreement with sovereign connotations and official nature.” BUSINESS GROUP E-COMMERCE STATEMENT COMING: A coalition of roughly 150 business groups from around the world will issue a statement in coming days urging the World Trade Organization to renew a nearly 26-year-old moratorium against imposing duties on digital goods and other electronic transmissions, Morning Trade has learned. The statement will be similar to one that 19 business groups made in 2022, when the moratorium was most recently extended despite India’s threat to block renewal at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference. More recently, South Africa has proposed members agree to terminate the moratorium at the group’s 13th Ministerial Conference next month in the United Arab Emirates. All in the game: South Africa and India use the threat of ending the moratorium as a bargaining chip to advance other trade objectives, former WTO Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff said. In essence, they are asking other members, “What do you want to pay us for keeping the moratorium? What’s it worth to you?” Wolff said. However, other developing countries appear to have genuine concerns about the potential loss of customs revenue from continuing the moratorium, he said. U.S., CHINA FINANCE OFFICIALS AGREE TO KEEP MEETING: Officials from the U.S. Treasury Department completed their third meeting with counterparts from the People’s Bank of China under a working group established to cooperate on financial issues, and as both countries move forward with efforts to ease tensions.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment