For more information on how these developments may affect your business, please contact Nicole Bivens Collinson at (202) 730-4956 or via email.
Argentina
The U.S. and Argentina on May 17 signed a memorandum of understanding on a framework of understanding to re-establish their bilateral high-level strategic dialogue. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the signing represents “a significant step in strengthening the cooperation between Argentina and the United States” in such areas as economic growth, science and technology, and cultural and educational cooperation.
Diana Mondino, Argentina’s foreign affairs minister, indicated that Argentina has “a strong intention” to expand its trade and investment agenda, including by opening markets for Argentinean exports, pursuing an effort to join the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, working to insert Argentina in strategic supply chains, and including Argentina in the benefits granted through the Inflation Reduction Act. It is worth mentioning that in a letter to President Biden dated May 21, Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., urged the administration to include Argentina and Paraguay in APEP.
Peru
USTR Tai and Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Elizabeth Galdo Marín, met on the sidelines of the joint meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministers Responsible for Trade and Ministers Responsible for Women to discuss various trade matters of particular importance. Among other things, Tai noted concerns with recent amendments to Peru’s Wildlife and Forestry Law and highlighted the importance the U.S. attaches to the environmental provisions of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. Tai also acknowledged Peruvian efforts to work together on strengthening labor priorities bilaterally and regionally through APEP.
USMCA
USTR Tai highlighted the continued importance of bilateral cooperation in separate meetings with her Canadian and Mexican counterparts held ahead of the fourth meeting of the United States-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Commission.
Tai highlighted at both meetings the implementation of the USMCA commitment related to prohibiting imports produced with forced labor as well as USMCA FTC Decision 5 to enhance coordination and consultation to support maintaining North American trade flows in emergency situations. As part of this work, Tai and Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade, and Economic Development, Mary Ng, announced their intention to jointly release U.S. and Canadian mechanisms to coordinate internally on North American trade flows in emergency situations.
In her meeting with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Raquel Buenrostro, Tai stressed the importance of achieving progress in the USMCA consultations on certain Mexican energy measures as well as on Mexico’s enforcement of certain fisheries-related environmental laws under the USMCA environment chapter. She also voiced concern about competition in Mexico’s telecommunications market, including with respect to its spectrum free methodology. Additionally, the two sides discussed matters related to bilateral steel and aluminum trade and agreed to expand bilateral collaboration to address unfair non-market policies and practices that undermine the USMCA and harm U.S. and Mexican workers.
With regard to Canada, Tai reiterated continued U.S. concerns with Canada’s proposed digital service tax and emphasized the longstanding dissatisfaction with Canada’s dairy tariff-rate quota allocation measures.
WTO
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted at a May 22 WTO General Council meeting the “constructive spirit” of consultations held with WTO members and groups of members since the last GC meeting in March on ways to move forward to complete the unfinished business from the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Abu Dhabi last February.
As part of efforts to advance work in Geneva, a members’ retreat will be held July 8-9 to reflect how work is carried out in Geneva, how ministerial conferences can be optimized, and how ongoing work can be carried forward in the various workstreams. According to the WTO, the GC chair will be reaching out to members in the next few weeks to hear their views on the actual content of the retreat. Okonjo-Iweala told the GC May 22 that four priorities for action repeatedly came up in her recent consultations with members: fisheries subsidies, agriculture, dispute settlement reform, and investment facilitation for development.
On fisheries, Okonjo-Iweala noted that members are “very close” to completing the “second wave” negotiations on fisheries subsidies at MC13 and that “there is much regret that it did not happen.” On agriculture, she stressed the need to make a breakthrough in this critical sector and encouraged members to offer ideas aimed at breaking the status quo. On dispute settlement, Okonjo-Iweala declared that “we need to fix what needs to be fixed so that the world will once again look at the WTO as a fully functioning organization," adding that “the developments we've seen so far are positive.”
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