WTO | 2022 News items - WTO response to the pandemic, trade and food security take centre stage at MC12

World IG exports increased by 21 per cent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2021, continuing the upward trend observed throughout the year. However, growth was slower than the 27 per cent recorded in Q3 and the 47 per cent in Q2.

The pace of trade in IGs, which range from crops used in food production to textiles and metals needed to produce goods, is an indicator of the level of activity in supply chains.

“Other industrial supplies”, comprising manufacturing inputs such as metal structures, electrical conductors and medical and pharma products, continued to be the key driver of growth, with a year-on-year increase of 31 per cent in Q4. World exports of food and beverage products grew slightly less, recording 23 per cent growth in the fourth quarter compared with 28 per cent in Q3. Ores and precious stones saw growth of 10 per cent in Q4, down from 13 per cent in Q3 and 40 per cent in Q2, mainly due to persistently decreasing iron ore prices.

Asian and African exports of industrial inputs to supply chains increased by more than 24 per cent year on year in Q4, while European exports of inputs grew by 18 per cent. North America's IG exports grew by 14.5 per cent, largely driven by exports of soybeans to China. However, South and Central America saw IG exports decrease by 12 per cent, mainly due to a reduction in Brazilian exports of iron ores and soybeans to China.

China continued to be the top IG exporter in Q4 in terms of value, exporting products with a value of US$ 418 billion. Among the top 15 IG exporters in Q4 2021, the highest growth was recorded by Belgium (39 per cent) and the United Kingdom (34 per cent). Malaysia joined the list of the top 15, registering year-on-year growth of 28 per cent, with three-quarters of its domestically produced inputs shipped to Asian partners. Top IG importers in Q4 in terms of value were China (US$ 439 billion) and the United States (US$ 268 billion). Among the top 15 IG importers, the highest growth (42 per cent) was recorded by India.

North America intensified its exports to Africa by 43 per cent year on year in Q4, with its exports of soybeans increasing twentyfold and vaccines fourfold. Africa's exports to Asia continued their rapid rise, growing by 45 per cent in Q4.

The fourth quarter information note on trade in intermediate goods is available here. It includes appendix tables with data starting from the first quarter of 2019.

IPEF will strengthen our ties in this critical region to define the coming decades for technological innovation and the global economy
 
Framework will create a stronger, fairer, more resilient economy for families, workers, and businesses in the United States and in the Indo-Pacific region

Today in Tokyo, Japan, President Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with a dozen initial partners: Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, we represent 40% of world GDP.  

The United States is an Indo-Pacific economic power, and expanding U.S. economic leadership in the region is good for American workers and businesses — as well as for the people of the region. IPEF will enable the United States and our allies to decide on rules of the road that ensure American workers, small businesses, and ranchers can compete in the Indo-Pacific. As the President has said, tackling inflation is a top economic priority, and this framework will help lower costs by making our supply chains more resilient in the long term, protecting us against costly disruptions that lead to higher prices for consumers.

U.S. foreign direct investment in the region totaled more than $969 billion in 2020 and has nearly doubled in the last decade, and we are the leading exporter of services to the region, helping fuel regional growth. Trade with the Indo-Pacific supports more than three million American jobs and is the source of nearly $900 billion in foreign direct investment in the United States. With 60 percent of the world’s population, the Indo‑Pacific is projected to be the largest contributor to global growth over the next 30 years.  

The United States and our partners in the region believe that much of our success in the coming decades will depend on how well governments harness innovation — especially the transformations afoot in the clean energy, digital, and technology sectors — while fortifying our economies against a range of threats, from fragile supply chains to corruption to tax havens. The past models of economic engagement did not address these challenges, leaving our workers, businesses, and consumers vulnerable. The framework will focus on four key pillars to establish high-standard commitments that will deepen our economic engagement in the region:

• Connected Economy: On trade, we will engage comprehensively with our partners on a wide range of issues. We will pursue high-standard rules of the road in the digital economy, including standards on cross-border data flows and data localization. We will work with our partners to seize opportunities and address concerns in the digital economy, in order to ensure small and medium sized enterprises can benefit from the region’s rapidly growing e-commerce sector, while addressing issues is such as online privacy and discriminatory and unethical use of Artificial Intelligence. We will also seek strong labor and environment standards and corporate accountability provisions that promote a race to the top for workers through trade. 
• Resilient Economy: We will seek first-of-their-kind supply chain commitments that better anticipate and prevent disruptions in supply chains to create a more resilient economy and guard against price spikes that increase costs for American families. We intend to do this by establishing an early warning system, mapping critical mineral supply chains, improving traceability in key sectors, and coordinating on diversification efforts.
• Clean Economy: We will seek first-of-their-kind commitments on clean energy, decarbonization, and infrastructure that promote good-paying jobs. We will pursue concrete, high-ambition targets that will accelerate efforts to tackle the climate crisis, including in the areas of renewable energy, carbon removal, energy efficiency standards, and new measures to combat methane emissions. 
• Fair Economy: We will seek commitments to enact and enforce effective tax, anti-money laundering, and anti-bribery regimes that are in line with our existing multilateral obligations to promote a fair economy. These will include provisions on the exchange of tax information, criminalization of bribery in accordance with UN standards, and effective implementation of beneficial ownership recommendations to strengthen our efforts to crack down on corruption.

Washington, D.C. --

On April 7, 2022, Congressional leaders named the conferees who will reconcile the America COMPETES Act and United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA).   The following links list the conferees:

This is a large number of legislators who will be hashing out the differences and coming up with compromises if the legislation is to be completed by Memorial Day.  

EMTC has signed onto a multi-association letter to Congressional leadership asking that the Import Security and Fairness Act restricting shipments that can be imported under the de minimis provision (19 U.S.C. section1321) be removed from the America COMPETES Act.

EMTC will report updates as they become available.

USPS INCREASES IMPACT ECOMMERCE The Postal Service will introduce new fees on April 3, 2022: Nonstandard Fees and Dimension Noncompliance Fee.  According to the Federal Register, the Nonstandard Fees will impact domestic retail and commercial mail that falls into specific categories

USPS Will Add New Shipping Fees, Starting April 3 — Best Life (bestlifeonline.com)

UPS has put a halt to some of its operations in two southern Chinese cities, and is holding imported shipments in other provinces. The recent China lockdown due to increase in Covid cases is bringing significant disruption to the production and delivery of goods sold online to other countries. UPS Suspending Services in China Could Cause Delays — Best Life (bestlifeonline.com) 

Washington, DC -

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) releases Volume 4 Issue 1 of its Trade News Snapshot.  Periodically, CBP issues a newsletter with highlights on trade issues, court cases, Federal Register notices, enforcement actions, and listing of policy updates and messages to the trade community.

To review past issues of CBP Trade News Snapshot, visit Trade News Snapshot | U.S. Customs and Border Protection (cbp.gov)

EMTC is launching a grassroots campaign to engage e-sellers and e-commerce marketplace platforms to add their voice to oppose provisions in the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 4521) that will negatively impact e-commerce.

Click the FACT SHEET to learn more about the proposed legislation.

To add your name to the list of companies advocating against these provisions, fill-in your information in EMTC's E-commerce Legislation Grassroots Campaign form.

EMTC joined twelve (12) industry trade associations asking the House leadership to remove de minimis restrictions (section 103001 - Import Security and Fairness Act) from the America COMPETES Act (H.R. 4521).

If the provision remains in the final bill, goods from China will no longer be eligible for duty-free and simplified entry under 19 U.S.C. section 1321.

A copy of the letter can be found at: Association Letter re De Minimis

The U.S. House of Representatives released the America COMPETES Act which includes 899 pages of trade measures, including a bar on de minimis shipments from China, out of the 3,000 page bill.  EMTC intends to draft comments on the bill.

Please note that although the bill number assigned to the America COMPETES Act is H.R. 4521, we expect this bill text to be replaced with the America COMPETES Act.  You can download the Executive Summary of the bill.

The America COMPETES Act is intended to be the House's counterpoint to the Senate's U.S Innovation and Competition Act (S. 1260) which passed in June 2021.  We expect the House will try to move swiftly on this legislation.