On January 15, 2019, President Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed the long-awaited “phase one” trade deal at the White House. The deal represents the first step towards a comprehensive agreement between the two nations and progress in the U.S.-China relationship. The deal will help ease trade tensions signaling a truce in the
“Phase One” Agreement Between the United States and China Reached
On Friday, October 11, 2019, President Trump announced that a “phase one” agreement had been reached with China. Most notably, the U.S. agreed to suspend its plan to increase tariffs from 25% to 30% on $250 billion in Chinese goods, which had been scheduled for October 15. In return, China has agreed to purchase between
The (Democratic) Trade Debate
If you watched the first Democratic Presidential candidates debate for a discussion of the candidates’ positions on trade, you are likely to be disappointed. The differences among the Democratic candidates and between them and President Trump will undoubtedly emerge as the campaign proceeds, but the first round of debates shed little light on their positions.
President Trump Announces Tariffs on Solar Panels and Washing Machines
Yesterday, President Trump announced his decisions on two high-profile trade cases brought under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes import restraints to protect domestic industries that are seriously injured by imports. These cases, which involve solar panels and washing machines from a variety of countries, are the first affirmative actions under this statutory provision since 2002.
In the solar panel case, the President announced increased tariffs for four years, starting at 30 percent and declining five percent per year over the relief period. These tariffs are lower than those sought by the two domestic petitioners in the case, Solar World and Suniva. The sting of the tariffs is softened further by the exemption from additional duties for the first 2.5 gigawatts of solar panels that are imported each year.
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NAFTA Round 2
Negotiators for the United States, Canada and Mexico wrapped up their second round of discussions concerning renegotiation of the NAFTA. While the negotiators expressed pleasure at the progress made, by all accounts the talks provided no new breakthroughs. Apparently, new texts in certain areas were exchanged, but no progress was made on the difficult issues