USTR

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that the Department of the Treasury has reached an agreement with Austria, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom regarding the treatment of Digital Services Taxes (“DSTs”). The Department of Treasury reached the agreement in conjunction with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) global agreement. In coordination with the Department of Treasury, USTR plans to work together with these governments to ensure implementation of the agreement and rollback of existing DSTs.

On October 4, 2021, Ambassador Katherine Tai, the United States Trade Representative, addressed the state of U.S.- China trade relations and the upcoming plans for the Biden Administration to improve foreign trade policy. Since taking office in January, the Administration has spent time reviewing the trade policies put in place under the Trump Administration.  There has been little movement until now as to the stance the Biden Administration would take, which created uncertainty regarding U.S. trade policy with China. Speculation grew as many questioned what would happen with the tariffs imposed on Chinese imports (under Section 301), how the administration would address the shortcomings of the “Phase 1” deal, and whether the product exclusion process would be re-instated.

Earlier this month, the US Government updated its ongoing response to what the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) described as “Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regions of China (“XUAR”), where the [People’s Republic of China] continues to…

The United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) Katherine Tai announced 25% additional tariffs on approximately $2 billion worth of imported goods from Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (“UK”), which have adopted Digital Service Taxes (“DSTs”).  However, USTR also immediately suspended the tariffs for 180 days to provide additional time for ongoing multilateral…

In Husch Blackwell’s March 2021 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:

  • USTR announced the continuation of certain Section 301 digital services taxes investigations
  • The U.S. temporarily suspended tariffs on UK and EU goods in the large civil aircraft dispute
  • USTR suspended trade engagement with

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On March 29th, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced the suspension of all U.S. engagements with Burma (Myanmar) under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (“TIFA”), effective immediately.  Pursuant to this announcement, the United States will be suspending all government-to-government meetings following the military coup that occurred in February and the related escalation in violence by Burma’s military against its people.

The United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced the continuation of certain Section 301 investigations related to digital services taxes (“DSTs”) and the termination of certain others.  USTR originally initiated Section 301 DSTs investigations covering several countries on June 2, 2020 in response to those countries’ implementation or consideration of DSTs, which are taxes on revenues…

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) published a notice of product exclusion extensions on March 10, 2021 to extend exclusions from additional Section 301 tariffs for certain medical-care products from China. USTR has extended these product exclusions from March 31, 2021 to September 30, 2021. The product exclusions were previously extended and modified…

On March 18, 2021, Katherine Tai was confirmed as the U.S. Trade Representative.  Tai will be the first woman of color in this role.

Tai’s nomination hearing focused on a worker and labor-centric trade policy as well as a return to multilateralism, which we believe will include more active participation in the World Trade Organization. …

In a joint statement released by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”), the U.S. and European Union (“EU”) have agreed to temporarily suspend the additional tariffs from the Large Civil Aircraft Dispute. Goods imported from EU countries, including dairy products and liquors, will temporarily not be subject to the additional 25 percent…