The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee announced that the panel will mark up tax legislation to strengthen economic ties with Taiwan when Congress returns in September from the August recess. …

OFAC has released the first episode of its “Introduction to OFAC” web series, a series of short videos created to provide viewers with a high-level introduction on the fundamentals of OFAC and sanctions implementation. The first episode introduces viewers to OFAC and its place within the U.S. government, as well as its history, mission, and relationship with the public. 

Four Republican senators want to overturn a new rule that would waive Buy American requirements for electric vehicle charging stations. The senators, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla) have introduced a joint resolution, under the Congressional Review Act, to overturn the rule, saying it paves the way for the use of Chinese products.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation (S 1421) that would mandate country-of- origin labeling for products sold online. The Country of Origin Labeling Online Act passed a vote of 16 to 11, with all committee Democrats voting in favor of the bill, along with two Republican se

The Commerce Department has announced its final determination of a combined countervailing and antidumping duty rate of 7.99 percent on imported softwood lumber from Canada, drawing immediate criticism from the Canadian government over the years-long dispute. Canadian International Trade Minister Mary Ng issued a statement expressing her disappointment that the “United States continues to impose unwarranted and unfair duties on Canadian softwood lumber. The only fair outcome would be for the United States to cease applying these baseless duties.”

The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has advanced the European Union's request to establish a compliance panel, seeking to verify whether the United States has adhered to an earlier panel ruling concerning US countervailing duties on Spanish ripe olives.  The United States continued to abstain from agreeing to a proposal to initiate the selection process for filling vacancies on the Appellate Body. This marks the 68th instance of such a blockade by the US.

Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, is set to make an official visit to Nairobi, Kenya, and Mogadishu, Somalia from July 24 to 29. The journey …

Delegates from across the Americas convened July 21 to mark one year in their implementation of the Declaration on Good Regulatory Practices (GRPs), announced during the Summit of the Americas in June 2022. The Inter-American Development Bank also joined the countries for an exchange focusing on best practices for inclusive consultations, and efforts to implement the related provisions of the Declaration.  The countries also discussed upcoming opportunities for further engagement on GRPs, including in regional exchanges and at the WTO.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) announced today that its 2023 Annual Conference – “Create Locally, Export Globally” – will take place October 19-20 at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Registration is now open.

A bipartisian group of lawmakers Tuesday introduced the Inter-American Development Bank Transparency Act. which would require the Treasury Department to inform Congress of PRC influence at the …

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., requested in a new letter that Lear Co., the nation’s largest car seat manufacturer, explain how it oversees leather supply chains in Brazil to prevent the illegal importation of goods made with forced labor or deforestation. The letter comes as part of Wyden’s ongoing inquiry into forced labor in auto supply chains. Wyden has written to major automakers and their tier 1 suppliers regarding evidence of parts made with forced labor in Xinjiang, China, as part of his investigation into the effectiveness of customs enforcement regarding forced labor. In June, he held a Finance Committee hearing investigating how cattle supply chains contribute to Amazon deforestation. 

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) ihas been in place for 23 years, enacted in dureing the George W Bush Administration and since renewed to 2025.  Monday, the USTR held the …

Developing countries such as India, South Africa, Türkiye, Argentina and Indonesia among others are pushing back against attempts by a group of countries, including the European Union and Australia, and supported by the United States, insisting that electronic transmissions “covers anything transmitted by telecommunications” and also include “content” through the internet under the World Trade Organization’s e-commerce moratorium, our correspondent writes.

Members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party continue their effort to challenge diplomats, bureaucrats and captains of industry a quest to bring trade security policy in line with the 24 hour news cycle.   Committee Chair Mike Gallagher’s key take away from his panel’s hearing July 20th  on the Administration’s China policy is that the White House seems unclear on what it means by economic “derisking” from China. “If the core tenet of the Biden strategy toward China is derisking, we have to understand what that means. It’s a little muddy,” he said.

As lawmakers raise questions of whether restrictions should be imposed on US investment in China, the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is launching an investigation into US venture capital firms’ investment in Chinese cutting edge technologies. Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc) and ranking Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill) sent letters to four US venture capital firms – GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Walden International – demanding information about the firms' investments in Chinese artificial intelligence, semiconductor and quantum companies.

As lawmakers raise questions of whether restrictions should be imposed on US investment in China, the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is launching an investigation into US venture capital firms’ investment in Chinese cutting edge technologies. Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc) and ranking Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill) sent letters to four US venture capital firms – GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Walden International – demanding information about the firms' investments in Chinese artificial intelligence, semiconductor and quantum companies.

The top US and European Union trade officials had a “direct and candid” discussion yesterday on negotiations to create an agreement governing steel and aluminum trade. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis met in Brussels as the two sides seek to reach agreement on the proposed Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum by October.

Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have introduced bipartisan legislation to increase transparency and oversight of foreign ownership in the US agricultural industry. The Farmland Security Act of 2023 builds on the senators’ bipartisan Farmland Security Act of 2022 by ensuring that all foreign investors, including “shell companies,” who buy US agriculture land report their holding.

World Trade Organization members echoed their differences over the priority issues to be taken up at the upcoming senior officials meetings, with a majority of members coalescing around the second wave negotiations of the fisheries subsidies agreement, reform of the dispute settlement system – including WTO reform and agriculture, WTD has learned. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee that members should make use of the October 23-24 senior officials meeting to “narrow down realistic deliverables” for agreement at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference in early 2024.

Legislation (HR 4004) approving the first phase of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade is on its way to the President’s desk after being passed by the Senate. The US-Taiwan deal is not a traditional free trade agreement and the Administration does not believe it requires Congressional approval. But both chamber of Congress approved the legislation in order to assert Congressional authority over trade and set transparency and consultation requirement for any further agreements negotiated under the initiative.