Tai's ‘era of engagement’ in Asia

Presented by Save American Solar Jobs: Delivered every Monday by 10 a.m., Weekly Trade examines the latest news in global trade politics and policy.

Sep 19, 2022 View in browser   By Steven Overly Presented by With help from Doug Palmer and Ari Hawkins QUICK FIX — The Biden administration's trade chief huddled with economic ministers from across Southeast Asia over the weekend. It's part of the U.S. "era of engagement" on trade. — The G20 trade ministers are meeting in Indonesia this week as global economies continue to contend with high inflation, snarled supply chain and other pandemic-era disruptions. — The International Trade Commission voted against imposing duties on steel nail imports, finding that U.S. producers were not actually at risk of material harm. It's Monday, Sept. 19. Welcome to Morning Trade. Your host is back on the beat after a summer hiatus. Shoot me a welcome-back e-mail or DM on Twitter with some juicy trade chatter. And keep sending the team your trade news: gbade@politico.com, soverly@politico.com, ahawkins@politico.com and dpalmer@politico.com.   A message from Save American Solar Jobs: President Biden put a two-year moratorium on new solar tariffs that threatened the U.S. solar industry. His Commerce Department, however, is continuing to pursue them – possibly to implement when the moratorium expires. If not stopped, these meritless tariffs would slam the brakes on solar deployment, undermining efforts by the President and Congress to promote clean energy jobs and address climate change. Commerce Secretary Raimondo: Please Reject Meritless and Damaging Solar Tariffs.   Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. Driving the Day TAI TOUTS USTR'S 'ERA OF ENGAGEMENT' FROM CAMBODIA: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai co-led consultations in Siem Reap, Cambodia, over the weekend with her counterparts from the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Per a joint statement, the economic ministers agreed to spend the next year working on trade issues related to sustainable energy and good regulatory practices. They will also pursue "meaningful, substantive and mutually beneficial outcomes" in a strategic partnership agreement that leaders are expected to adopt at a summit in November. Tai's office is in its "era of engagement," she said Sunday, as the Biden administration forges closer ties to economies in Asia — not only through consultations with ASEAN, but also its recently launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and its early-stage negotiations over a new trade initiative with Taiwan. "We all recognize that, at this moment in time, it is really an enormous opportunity and a necessity for our economies to come together to find ways to cooperate and to help each other into a robust economic recovery," Tai told reporters over the weekend. The U.S. is especially keen on Southeast Asia, not just for its bustling economy but also its potential position as a security counterweight to China. But China is interested, too: The U.S. is not alone in its increased interest in Southeast Asia, Tai acknowledged. Beijing has sought to beef up its economic and security relationships in the region, both through its own agreements with neighboring nations and existing pacts, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. "I know that in speaking to my counterparts in Beijing that they do value these relationships, too. And Beijing is also engaged economically and more broadly in this region, and I think that that just indicates how important this region is, and how close the big economies in the world are in helping to unlock the potential here," Tai said. Speaking of China: Tai did not indicate whether any changes are imminent for U.S. tariffs on China, but she chafed at the suggestion the measures were intended to penalize China. The Trump-era duties are intended to rebalance an unfair trade relationship and not sanction China's economy, she said. "The United States is not punishing China with tariffs, and I think that is a really important point to make because tariffs are really a trade tool. They can be used in lots of different ways," Tai said. WHAT WE'RE WATCHING NOW: Tai moves on to Bali, Indonesia, where she'll spend much of this week meeting with G20 trade ministers. Hot topics are expected to be global inflation, pandemic recovery and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as trade officials look to align their economic priorities ahead of a meeting of state leaders in November. On Wednesday: Tai will host an informal ministerial dialogue on WTO dispute settlement reform alongside Deputy United States Trade Representative María Pagán. U.S., PARAGUAY HOLD FIRST TIFA TALKS: Trade officials from the U.S. and Paraguay huddled in Washington last week for the first Trade and Investment Council meeting since the countries signed onto a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement last March. The wide-ranging discussions saw the countries agree to make things easier for companies looking to trade across borders by looking for ways to cut red tape, reduce customs fees and align regulations, according to USTR. They also agreed on a plan to work out differences over intellectual property protections, and Paraguay said it hopes to comply with requirements to export raw beef to the U.S. by next year. Next chat: Representatives will meet again in Paraguay's capital, Asunción, in 2023.   HAPPENING 9/29 - POLITICO'S AI & TECH SUMMIT : Technology is constantly evolving and so are the politics and policies shaping and regulating it. Join POLITICO for the 2022 AI & Tech summit to get an insider look at the pressing policy and political issues shaping tech, and how Washington interacts with the tech sector. The summit will bring together lawmakers, federal regulators, tech executives, tech policy experts and consumer advocates to dig into the intersection of tech, politics, regulation and innovation, and identify opportunities, risks and challenges ahead. REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT HERE.     Trade Remedy Corner ITC NIXES NEW STEEL NAIL DUTIES: The U.S. International Trade Commission voted 5-0 Friday to prevent the Commerce Department from imposing countervailing duties on steel nails from India, Oman,Turkey and Sri Lanka in a case filed by Mid Continent Nails in Missouri. The ITC said no duties are needed because the imports from India, Oman and Turkey did not materially injure, or even threaten to materially injure, U.S. producers. The panel also voted to terminate the Sri Lanka investigation because of the negligible amount of subsidized trade found by the Commerce Department. Future votes: Mid Continent also has asked for anti-dumping duties on steel nail imports. The ITC will vote in October on the Turkey portion of that anti-dumping case and in December on the rest of the countries.   A message from Save American Solar Jobs:   COMPANIES PROTEST LOOMING QUARTZ DUTY HIKE: Companies involved in an antidumping case on quartz surface products from India are complaining of unfair treatment by the Commerce Department in a case that the Wall Street Journal editorial page has described as "Trade Bureaucrats Gone Wild ." The quartz products are used primarily for countertops, raising concern about the impact of Commerce's decision on homebuyers. The department has been conducting an administrative review of anti-dumping duties initially imposed in 2019. Antique Marbonite, one of the two Indian companies that Commerce is using to set the rate for other exporters, mistakenly filed its submission a few hours late, according to Paul Nathanson, a senior principal at Bracewell, who is working on behalf several importers and distributors of Indian quartz surface products. As a penalty, Commerce issued a preliminary decision in June to raise the duty rate for Antique Marbonite from about 5 percent to 323 percent, Nathanson said. The broader impact: Commerce gave the other Indian company, PSL, a zero percent duty rate. But the average between zero and 323 percent is 161 percent and that is the rate Commerce plans to impose on 51 other Indian exporters, "even though the agency acknowledges that those companies did nothing wrong," Nathanson said in an email to Morning Trade. Since the administrative review covers the period between December 2019 and May 2021, importers face more than $300 million in retroactive duties if the preliminary rate becomes final. The higher rate would also apply to future imports of the quartz product from India. The Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment.   JOIN THURSDAY FOR A GLOBAL INSIDER INTERVIEW : From climate change to public health emergencies and a gloomy global economic outlook, the world continues to deal with overlapping crises. How do we best confront all of these issues? Join POLITICO Live on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 10:30 a.m. EDT for a virtual conversation with Global Insider author Ryan Heath, featuring World Bank President David Malpass, to explore what it will take to restore global stability and avoid a prolonged recession. REGISTER HERE.     Premium Analysis GREEN INDUSTRY CHANGES THE INDUSTRIAL CAPITAL: States like California and Colorado dominated manufacturing in the 1990s thanks in part to generous business incentives used to shore up regional production. But a DataPoint analysis released by POLITICO on Friday indicates western states no longer lead the nation in subsidy offerings as the energy industry continues to expand. State-level legislation that includes direct and indirect business funding and tax incentives, are most highly concentrated in the 11 states in the Northeast, according to data from the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness. International Overnight — The United States needs to tighten its export control regime for advanced technology products says White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, POLITICO reports. — Tesla is considering moving battery cell production to the United States to take advantage of tax incentives in the new clean energy law, POLITICO writes. — Ukraine has stopped publicly asking for high-end U.S. weapons but behind the scenes the push hasn't stopped for weapons that could turn the tide of the war, POLITICO reports. — The rising value of the U.S. dollar is a problem for the world economy, according to The Wall Street Journal. — The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation agreed to take steps to increase the use of national currencies in trade between their countries, per Reuters. THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING TRADE! See you again soon! In the meantime, drop the team a line: dpalmer@politico.com, gbade@politico.com and soverly@politico.com. Follow us @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Trade.   A message from Save American Solar Jobs: Commerce Secretary Raimondo: Please Reject Meritless and Damaging Solar Tariffs In June, President Biden acted to support the U.S. solar industry by using his executive authority to preserve existing trade policy and prevent any new tariffs on solar panel components from being implemented for two years. Now Congress has passed a groundbreaking package of investments and tax incentives that will dramatically expand domestic solar manufacturing going forward. Yet, the U.S. Commerce Department continues to consider solar tariffs that could be implemented after the President's tariff moratorium has expired. If not stopped, these meritless tariffs would slam the brakes on solar deployment, undermining efforts by the President and Congress to promote clean energy jobs and address climate change. Save American Solar Jobs urges Commerce Secretary Raimondo to reject these meritless and damaging solar tariffs once and for all.     Follow us on Twitter John Yearwood @john_yearwood Doug Palmer @tradereporter Gavin Bade @GavinBade Steven Overly @StevenOverly   Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.