TRADE UPDATE

Food & Agriculture
February 20, 2024

By Kristy Goodfellow, Vice President of Trade and Industry Affairs, and Natalie Diez, Trade and Economic Policy Intern

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • WTO: The Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) will take place on Feb. 26-29 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Negotiations continue on many topics: agriculture, Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), fisheries, dispute settlement reform, and e-commerce, among others. On Feb. 16, the Chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Special Session, published a new “Draft Text on Agriculture”.
  • Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP): On Feb 12-13, USTR participated in the first Senior Officials for Trade of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (“Americas Partnership”) meeting.
  • USDA: Several speakers touched on trade at the 100th USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum. USDA and USTR highlighted some trade policy wins and emphasized utilization and development of new trade promotion programs.
  • Trade Remedies:
    • The battle over EU imports of palm oil continues. On Feb. 7, Indonesia initiated the WTO dispute settlement process by requesting consultations with the EU over anti-dumping measures on fatty acids.
    • On Feb. 9, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted to continue investigation into dumping and subsidies on glass wine bottles from Chile, China, and Mexico.
  • Trade Data: Last week, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) published Charting the Essentials, 2024, which highlights several interesting trade trends. Notably, U.S. exports declined in 2023 after reaching an all-time high in 2022.

“You know it’s always very difficult and seems like it’s not going to work. But we never say never. We are going to get it done.”

—WTO Director General Okonjo-Iweala commenting on MC13

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

RUNUP TO THE 13TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE (MC13)

  • MC13 will take place Feb. 26-29 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
  • On Feb. 13, during the 2024 Washington International Trade Conference, WTO Deputy Director-General (DDG) Angela Ellard noted that MC13 priorities include:
    • entry into force of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and completing the second wave of negotiations;
    • progress on dispute settlement reform;
    • a decision on the extension of the e-commerce moratorium;
    • agriculture negotiations;
    • development-related issues;
    • and deciding how to integrate outcomes of the joint initiatives into the WTO rulebook.
  • Agriculture: 
    • On Feb. 16, the Chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Special Session, published a new “Draft Text on Agriculture”. 
    • Draft text included provisions on domestic support, market access, special safeguard mechanisms (SSM), export prohibitions and restrictions, export competition, cotton trade-related component, cotton development assistance component, and public stockholding for food security purposes. 
  • Fisheries:
    • A press statement about U.S. WTO Ambassador Pagan’s weekly activities notes that during a General Council meeting, Ambassador Pagan “reaffirmed U.S. support for a more bespoke approach to flexibilities that exclude large fishing economies and large subsidizers of fisheries industries.”
  • Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS):
    • According to a WTO press release from Feb. 13, Members adopted two reports—one regarding whether to extend the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS agreement to COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics and one regarding the Council’s current and future work on the Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics. 
    • Most notably, consensus could not be reached on the extension of the MC12 decision to cover COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics or recommendation on non-violation and situation complaints.
  • In a WTO press release, Director General Okonjo-Iweala commented on MC13: “You know it’s always very difficult and seems like it’s not going to work. But we never say never.  We are going to get it done.”

AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP FOR ECONOMIC PROSPERITY (APEP)

FIRST MEETING OF SENIOR OFFICIALS FOR TRADE OF THE APEP

  • In a press release, USTR provided a readout of the first Senior Officials for Trade of the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (“Americas Partnership”) meeting.
  • The meeting took place on Feb. 12-13 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. 
  • As explained in the press release, the group began establishing committees and working groups to advance implementation of the trade-related elements of the cross-cutting priorities identified by the Leaders in the East Room Declaration in November 2023.
  • The East Room Declaration notes that the “Trade Track” of APEP will “bolster the foundation of our regional competitiveness by building upon existing trade links and economic cooperation”. 

USDA

100TH USDA AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK FORUM

  • Several speakers touched on trade at the 100th USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum.
  • USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer provided a trade outlook alongside commodity analysis.
  • USDA TFAA Under Secretary Alexis Taylor moderated a panel called “100 Years of Agricultural Trade: How Did We Get Here”.
  • USTR Katherine Tai and U.S. Ambassador’s to the Philippines and Vietnam participated in an opening session on “Fostering Diverse Opportunities for U.S. Agricultural Exports in the Global Marketplace”, moderated by USDA Secretary Vilsack.
    • In USTR Katherine Tai’s remarks, she highlighted tariff reductions in India, beef and biofuels access to Japan, and regaining poultry access in Africa.  Regarding enforcement activities, she mentioned the ongoing challenges with Mexico biotech corn and Canada dairy.  Speaking generally about enforcement, Ambassador Tai stated: “…if we really want to see trade benefit more people across our economies, we need to follow the rules that we agreed to.”
  • Lawmakers from the EU, United States, and UK participated in a session on “Shaping a Sustainable Future: A Dialog with Transatlantic Policy Makers”.   
    • Irène Tolleret, chair of the European Food Forum, stated: “…so, let’s work together and trade is part of that Sustainable agriculture pass, but with fair practices, not unfair practices.”
    • While discussing a potential U.S.-UK trade agreement, UK Parliamentarian Barry Gardiner emphasized that the UK has not historically prioritized its food and agriculture industry in trade negotiations. 
  • USDA Secretary Vilsack highlighted some trade policy wins, but primarily focused on utilization and development of new trade promotion programs, like the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program.
Ambassador to the Philippines, MaryKay Carlson, USDA Secretary Vilsack, and U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, Marc Knapper. From @SecVilsack on X

TRADE REMEDIES

WTO DISPUTE ON EU ANTI-DUMPING (AD) MEASURES ON FATTY ACID IMPORTS FROM INDONESIA

INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION (ITC)

  • On Feb. 9, U.S. ITC voted to continue investigation into dumping and subsidies on glass wine bottles from Chile, China, and Mexico.
  • The preliminary countervailing duty investigation determination is due on or about March 25, 2024, and the preliminary AD duty determination is due on or about June 6, 2024.
  • As presented in a Federal Register notice, the investigation was requested by the U.S. Glass Production Coalition, which is comprised of Ardagh Glass Inc. out of Indianapolis, IN and the United Steel, Paper, and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers Union out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
  • According to the investigation initiation announcement, Chile is the country with the highest alleged dumping margins, equal to 609.71%. China’s alleged dumping margins range from 284.53 to 301.12%, while Mexico’s alleged dumping margins range from 79.83 to 96.95%.
  • The ITC report on the determination that there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured will be available to access on the ITC website on March 19, 2024.

TRADE DATA

ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE (ERS) CHARTS

  • Last week, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) published Charting the Essentials, 2024, which highlights several interesting trade trends.
  • Notably for trade:
    • U.S. exports declined in 2023 after reaching an all-time high in 2022. ERS attributes much of the decrease to declining export values of corn, wheat, tree nuts, and beef.
    • China, Canada, and Mexico continue to be the largest export markets for U.S. agricultural products.
    • Imports have increased almost 5-fold since 2001, with notable increases in horticulture imports.
    • ERS depicts export value share of production, 2023-2022, by commodity, and highlights that exports account for 40 percent or more of the total market value for U.S. fruits and tree nuts, oilseeds, and food grains such as rice and wheat.