| | | | |  | | By Ari Hawkins | | | With help from Doug Palmer
| | — From progressive Democrats to Republican China hawks, a growing coalition of lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to reject Vietnam’s request to alter its non-market economy status amid a review by the Commerce Department. — Time appears to be running short for World Trade Organization countries to reach an agreement on a dispute settlement reform package by the next ministerial conference scheduled for late February in Abu Dhabi. — Reps. Jeff Duncan and John Joyce are leading 50 House Republicans in a letter pressing for more information over the decision by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to abandon support for certain Trump-era digital trade provisions. It’s Monday, Jan. 29. Welcome to Morning Trade! If you haven’t watched videos of squirrels getting stuck in bird feeders, you’re really missing out. Send us pics of your backyard critters or stick to trade news at: ahawkins@politico.com, gbade@politico.com and dpalmer@politico.com. You can also follow us on X: @_arihawkins, @gavinbade and @tradereporter.
| | | | A message from Consumer Brands Association: The International Trade Commission should vote against imposing harmful new tariffs on tin mill steel. The makers of food and household products rely on high quality tin mill steel that domestic steel makers cannot or refuse to make, making them dependent on imports. The tariffs are unwarranted and would hurt American consumers and domestic manufacturing jobs. The ITC should reject these tariffs. Learn More. | | | | | | | 
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks during a Senate Armed Services hearing on Dec. 6, 2023. | Jose Luis Magana/AP | RISING SCRUTINY OVER VIETNAM NME REVIEW: Two separate groups of left-leaning House and Senate lawmakers are urging the Biden administration not to grant Vietnam market economy status amid its ongoing review, which Commerce aims to wrap up by the end of July. “Upgrading Vietnam’s status before its labor standards are improved, including a green light for goods produced by forced labor in China, would be a serious mistake,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who led a letter signed by eight senators in the Democratic conference, in remarks to Morning Trade. The senators underscored the use of child and forced labor in Vietnam, and the country’s growing trade ties with China, while arguing that granting market economy status would worsen ongoing trade distortions and threaten American workers and industries, according to the letter dated Sunday and addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “Secretary Raimondo should listen to the concerns of American workers, not jeopardize their job security with bad trade policy,” Warren added. That message is backed up by the lower chamber in a letter from 25 House Democrats led by Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). The letter argues that Vietnam does not meet procedural requirements for a change in status. “Our own government has completed extensive research which reinforces Vietnam’s role as a conduit for an influx of unfairly traded Chinese goods that evade established trade laws. We must ensure our trade laws are not compromised,” DeLauro told Morning Trade. The push from bicameral Democrats comes on the heels of a letter from Republican senators calling on Commerce to suspend its review, warning a “hasty decision … would weaken the enforcement of U.S. trade and national security laws, embolden and advantage the Chinese and Vietnamese communist parties, and hurt American industries and their workers.” Quick reminder: The latest Treasury Department semiannual report to Congress noted that no major trade partner had manipulated its currency, but did place Vietnam back onto a foreign exchange “monitoring list.” Commerce announced in October that it would review Vietnam’s non-market economy status, kicking off a 270-day countdown.
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| | |  The headquarters of the World Trade Organization stands on December 11, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. | Robert Hradil/Getty Images | WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT DEAL IN DOUBT: Time seems to be running out for WTO members to reach agreement on a dispute settlement reform package before the 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi next month. Members will receive the sixth version of a consolidated draft text today and should push for a final package by Feb. 9, Guatemala’s deputy permanent representative to the WTO Marco Molina said Friday in Geneva. The MC13 meeting starts Feb. 26. Not so fast: In contrast, the U.S. delegate who spoke at the meeting stressed the number of difficult issues that still need to be resolved, including how to “address erroneous [Appellate Body] interpretations on such issues as essential security, regulatory space, remedies for unfair trade, and other fundamental systemic issues.” Click here for more. U.S., EU CHECK THE TTC BOX: U.S. and European business groups are not expecting much from tomorrow’s meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, originally scheduled for late 2023. “To date, the TTC has delivered only modest results, and, unfortunately, it appears this ministerial too will yield few concrete outcomes,” Marjorie Chorlins, senior vice president for Europe at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. It’s true the forum has helped coordinate actions “in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine,” added Luisa Santos, deputy director general of BusinessEurope. “But we must see concrete measures to reduce the costs of doing business across the Atlantic.” Click here for a deeper look at the expectations for tomorrow’s meeting. USMCA URGED TO EXPAND AHEAD OF JOINT REVIEW: Costa Rica will continue to “water the seed” of USMCA accession when it hosts the next Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity leaders’ summit in Spring 2025, the country’s minister of foreign trade Manuel Tovar told Morning Trade. “There's a USMCA review in 2026. That could be a good occasion, where hopefully members decide … to open up discussions, or at least set a path for potential enlargement of the bloc,” Tovar said, referring to the joint review, which is required six years after the agreement went into force. APEP watch: The APEP summit will focus on building out a regional semiconductor ecosystem and identifying shortcomings in the industry’s workforce. Tovar added that regional officials understand the 2024 election could have an impact on APEP, and that the fate of the framework would be affected by the “will of the American people.”
| | | | A message from Consumer Brands Association:   | | | | | MORE REPUBLICANS WEIGH IN ON USTR DIGITAL TRADE MOVE: A group of 50 House Republicans led by House Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) is pressing for more information about USTR’s decision to abandon support for proposed World Trade Organization digital trade principles. In a letter first made available to Morning Trade, the lawmakers express “concern and disappointment” about the decision to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and the administration’s top antitrust enforcement officials, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter. The latter two are included because Tai’s move effectively aligned U.S. digital trade policy with the Biden administration antitrust actions against tech companies. “The decision to step back from negotiations not only undermines the competitive edge of U.S. companies and small businesses, but also relinquishes leadership to strategic competitors who remain actively engaged in ongoing digital trade discussions,” the lawmakers wrote.
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S GOVERNORS SUMMIT: Join POLITICO on Feb. 22 to dive into how Governors are wielding immense power. While Washington remains gridlocked, governors are at the center of landmark decisions in AI and tech, economic development, infrastructure, housing, reproductive health and energy. How are they setting the stage for the future of American politics, policies and priorities? How are they confronting major challenges? Explore these questions and more at the 2024 Governors Summit. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | — Frustration with a stalled trade agenda and dissension over the leadership of President Joe Biden’s trade chief is pushing more than a half-dozen senior trade officials out the door, Gavin writes. — Commerce will host the first session of a bilateral working group with China in the "upcoming months" to discuss a number of trade irritants, according to a top department official, Doug writes. — The Biden administration and the pharmaceutical industry are united in an effort to block developing countries from access to U.S. firms’ patented information on vaccines and drugs when the next pandemic hits, per Carmen Paun. — The U.S. failed in two days of talks to prod China into pressuring Iran to stop Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, an administration official said Saturday, writes Phelim Kine. — The Biden administration officially announced the departure of Sarah Bianchi as deputy United States trade representative, according to a statement. THAT’S ALL FOR MORNING TRADE! See you again soon! In the meantime, drop the team a line: ahawkins@politico.com, gbade@politico.com and dpalmer@politico.com. Follow us @POLITICOPro and @Morning_Trade.
| | | | A message from Consumer Brands Association: The International Trade Commission should vote against imposing harmful new tariffs on tin mill steel. The makers of food and household products rely on high quality tin mill steel that domestic steel makers cannot or refuse to make, making them dependent on imports. The tariffs are unwarranted and would hurt American consumers and domestic manufacturing jobs. The ITC should reject these tariffs. Learn More. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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