Articles Tagged with ''Katherine Tai''

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai rebuffed appeals from senators to begin negotiating trade agreements that would cut tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports.

The U.S. is taking the first procedural step that could lead to a dispute resolution panel over Mexico’s anti-biotech stance on corn imports, according to a statement released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Monday.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced Tuesday that the U.S. is calling for a second dispute panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to rule on its claims that Canada is unfairly manipulating its dairy quotas cut U.S. exporters access to key parts of the Canadian market.

The United States is consulting again with Canada over complaints that the country is manipulating its dairy import quotas and restricting access to its market, but U.S. senators are now demanding the Biden administration take the next step of calling for a second dispute panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. 

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Monday reinforced USDA's position that Mexico’s proposed restrictions on genetically modified corn would still break its commitments under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, despite Mexican proposals to soften the rules.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack made it clear to reporters earlier this month that the U.S. is not satisfied with Mexico’s latest offer to compromise on its plan to restrict biotech corn imports, but the Biden administration has also sent that message to Mexico City as talks between the two countries continue, says Alexis Taylor, USDA’s undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.

There aren’t any compromises that the Biden administration is willing to make when it comes to Mexico’s effort to curtail its imports of genetically modified corn from the U.S., says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

A delegation of visiting Mexican government officials on Friday offered the Biden administration a possible compromise on its looming decree to ban genetically modified corn imports, including a proposal to delay implementation for a year until January, 2025, according to industry sources.