The United States and India are working to complete a limited trade deal later this month. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will travel to India to finalize the agreement in the coming weeks. President Trump is expected to sign the agreement when he visits India around February 24-25, his first trip to India as president.
China Amends Law to Ban Theft of Foreign Trade Secrets
Last week, China amended a draft of a proposed foreign-investment law in an effort to address global concern over forced technology transfers. The new law, which bans officials from divulging corporate secrets, was approved by the Chinese legislature on Friday. The amendments were made shortly before the law was put to a vote and are
Senate Finance Committee Asks USTR Lighthizer: What is the Future of the WTO?
On Tuesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer testified before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss a question that is central to the Trump Administration’s trade policy agenda: What is the future of the World Trade Organization (WTO)? As the 25th anniversary of the 1994 creation of the WTO (in its current form) approaches, the Trump Administration has been vocal in its criticism of the WTO’s shortcomings and failure to abide by the text of the agreements as written in 1994. The Administration has pledged, as part of its overall trade policy, to seek critical reforms that will improve and reform the WTO’s functions going forward. And, as Senator Wyden put it, trade issues including WTO challenges are one of the least known and biggest problems facing the United States’ ability to create good paying jobs and to expand our markets.
Ambassador Lighthizer answered questions on a number of topics relating to the WTO and, more generally, current U.S. trade policies:
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Trump Administration Takes Steps to Identify Chinese Violations of U.S. Intellectual Property Rights
On Monday, August 14, 2017, President Trump signed a memorandum directing the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) to determine whether to initiate a Section 301 investigation of Chinese laws, policies, practices, or actions that may be harming the intellectual property rights of U.S. persons.
In a Section 301 investigation, if the USTR determines that a Chinese