ITA Undersecretary Says AD/CVD Takes Precedence Over Export Promotion
Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago, who leads 2,300 employees at the agency, said an increasing part of their work is helping U.S. companies build resilience in the face of China's "heavily subsidized indigenous industries."
Lago, who was speaking at the Washington International Trade Association's conference Feb. 14, said Commerce's International Trade Administration, which she leads, is "enforcing a record number of antidumping and countervailing duty orders," as well as "counseling companies suffering from unfair trade practices" from critical industries.
Lago said that although the present is not conducive for negotiating new free trade agreements, the ITA works to promote U.S. exports, and brings up non-tariff trade barriers through its commercial service officers abroad.
"China remains an important export market," she said, and is the third-largest export market for the U.S. "We do not seek to decouple from the Chinese economy," she said, but also said that promoting U.S. commercial interests there will not distract from ITA's No. 1 priority, protecting U.S. businesses.
Lago was asked about the recent negotiating round of three pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. The trade pillar was not discussed, since India was the host, and it is the only IPEF country not in the trade pillar. Instead, they negotiated proposed text on supply chains; the third pillar, which covers clean energy, decarbonization and infrastructure; and the fourth pillar, which covers tax and anti-corruption.
Moderator Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator, noted that the Indian trade minister and a Japanese official told journalists that they want early harvests, and speculated that some early harvest could happen by May, when ministers are scheduled to meet. She asked Lago if that was possible.
Lago did not say yes. "I'm not going to speculate about which pillar might proceed on what time frame, but I have been heartened by the fact that this isn't a U.S. push alone. It's not just a developed large economy push alone," she said, but rather all IPEF members want to get each pillar done fast. She said they're all committed to what she called a "blistering pace" of negotiations.
Cutler asked Lago to respond to Sen. Mike Crapo's criticism of the administration's reluctance to pursue traditional free trade agreements. Lago said "there is widespread disagreement about the role of trade and the nature of trade agreements within the United States," and she said there are diverging views inside both the Democratic and Republican parties. "Against this backdrop are we doing nothing? No, that is not an option," she said.
Rather, she said, officials are looking at pressing issues, such as lowering barriers to digital trade -- and she said in that area, tariff reduction isn't salient.