Fashion Intel & Analysis
This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) indicated progress toward a final USMCA agreement. “We are moving positively on [USMCA],” Pelosi said during a press conference this week. “Again, it all comes down to enforcement. I do believe that if we can get this to the place it needs to be, which is imminent, that this can be a template for future trade agreements." Pelosi added her goal is to get USMCA done this year. To be passed this year, a USMCA implementing bill would have to move quickly as the clock winds down with a limited number of legislative days left in 2019 that both the House and the Senate are in session.
The United States and Turkey have agreed to work towards a goal of $100 billion in bilateral trade annually, according to a White House fact sheet. The announcement came earlier this week after President Trump met with Turkish President Erdogan at the White House. “The United States encourages Turkey to further open its markets to American goods and services, and ensure a level playing field for our trade relationship,” the announcement says. There are no details about what measures the Administration is considering to expand trade.
While we wish we had positive news to share, today’s press reports say there are more difficulties in the U.S. and China trade talks. Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. and China have hit a snag over farm purchases, creating another difficulty as the U.S. and China try to reach a deal. China is hesitant to put a numerical commitment on agriculture purchases in the agreement, says the article. The article outlines additional obstacles in the negotiations, as well, including China’s requests of a tariff “roll-back” and resistance for a strong enforcement mechanism for the deal. This report comes a day after Trump said he would raise import tariffs “substantially” if the two sides fail to reach an agreement.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigations of imports of polyester textured yarn from China and India, finding that yarn from China and India is being dumped in the U.S. and producers in China and India are receiving unfair subsidies. The dumping margins for China and India range from 76.07 to 77.15 percent and 17.62 to 47.51 percent, respectively, and Commerce found that exporters from China and India received unfair subsidy rates ranging from 32.18 to 473.09 percent and 4.29 to 21.83 percent, respectively. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its final injury determinations on or about December 30, 2019. If the ITC makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue AD/CVD orders. If the ITC makes negative final determinations of injury, the investigations will end and no orders will be issued. The Commerce Department fact sheet is available here.
Members of Congress showed bipartisan support for the current U.S. de minimis threshold and opposition to lowering the level through USMCA implementing bill in a recent letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Members have “serious bipartisan concern” over the draft Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) language in the Customs Administration and Trade Facilitation Chapter regarding the de minimis level. “The U.S. de minimis threshold is a policy recently set by Congress, which raised the threshold from $200 in 2016. The current de minimis threshold still enjoys wide bipartisan support in Congress and throughout the manufacturing, retail, logistics, and e-commerce landscapes,” says the letter.
