Brussels (Brussels Morning) US Trade Representative Katherine Tai believes the trade dispute with the EU on aluminium, steel and aircraft subsidies could be resolved soon, Reuters reports.
Addressing the US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on Thursday, Tai affirmed her commitment to resolving the dispute over subsidies to Boeing and Airbus aerospace companies currently before the World Trade Organisation.
The four-month tariff truce is to expire in the summer.
Chinese production links
As for the dispute over US aluminium and steel tariffs and the EU’s retaliatory tariffs on whiskey, motorcycles and other US exports, Tai stressed that finding a solution would depend on how the issue of China’s long-standing excess production capacity for aluminium and steel is addressed.
The EU had announced plans to double import tariffs on US whiskey, motorcycles and power boats as of the beginning of June should the US fail to scrap its “Section 232” tariffs.
Now, according to Tal, solutions to both trade disputes “are within reach.”
Trade resolutions
Besides untangling trade disputes with the EU, Tai announced plans to try and resolve trade issues with her Canadian and Mexican counterparts as well. These include discussions about US access to the Canadian dairy market at the upcoming United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) meeting.
In addition, she hopes to raise issues such as the perennial US-Canada lumber dispute as well as Mexico’s planned ban on the import of genetically modified corn and its ban on the widely used glyphosate herbicide.
In speaking to the Ways and Means Committee, Tai said it was vital to rethink the fast track authority which allows the President to close trade deals with limited congressional oversight.
That authority, she pointed out, expires on 1 July and should be adjusted as part of efforts to to help the US economy recover from the coronavirus crisis.