In listing her early successes as the new U.S. Trade Representative, the first one Katherine Tai mentioned was the the four-month suspensions of the Airbus/Boeing tariffs with the EU and UK.
Robert M. Tobiassen, president, National Association of Beverage Importers, said this was very encouraging. “While NABI would have appreciated hearing a few more specifics on the next ‘bold step(s)’ forward, nevertheless the Ambassador’s mention here the large civil aircraft dispute is a very promising sign for successful settlement negotiations.”
Tobiassen added, “It is likely the meetings leading up to and including the G7 ministerial on June 11-12, 2021, hosted by the UK Government, will be the venues for the political discussions and concrete decisions on the margins of these meeting, at a minimum.”
The G7 Members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States of America. The European Commission attends and participates in the G7 meetings. The key countries and regional economic entity in the large civil aircraft disputes are there.
“Certainty is essential for importers to plan ahead, especially in light of the transportation and container shipping delays in both the country of export and the port of entry in the United States” pointed out Tobiassen.
“The immediate announcement of an additional suspension period or a permanent suspension is the exact certainty desperately needed by importers of wine and spirits; such an announcement in mid-June, after the G7 ministerial, before the expiration of the temporary suspension with the UK on July 4, and with the EU on July 11, simply fails to provide certainty now by the importer business community and its workers” added Tobiassen.
In her testimony, Tai said USTR is” developing and implementing a worker-centered trade policy that complements and supports the domestic investments in the American Jobs Plan. The President’s Trade agenda will foster broad-based, equitable growth that increases innovation and enhances the country’s competitive edge and that’s crafted with workers at the table.
“For the first time, we committed to using trade policy to address racial equity and support underserved communities,” Tai said, adding: “Through thoughtful, sustained engagement and utilizing data, the Biden Administration will develop a better understanding of how proposed trade policies affect all Americans as people and their communities, especially communities of color. And we will consider those impacts in our process for making policy decisions.
“In just a few short months, USTR has already delivered results for American workers. In March, USTR announced a four-month suspension of tariffs with both the United Kingdom and the European Union related to the long-running World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute over certain large civil aircraft subsidies. This was a bold step towards finally resolving the issues that have impacted the U.S. industry and its workers,” she said.
Tobiassen noted “Tai linked the temporary suspension of the large civil aircraft tariffs to advancing the worker centric guidepost or pillar for the trade policy of the Biden/Harris Administration.
“The extension of the temporary suspension for two or even six more months only strengthens the protection of American workers in the import industry and the workers in the collateral or dependent industries in the distribution chain,” Tobiassen said.