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But the de minimis rule also has powerful defenders. China's exports grew only 0.6% last year, but the bright spot was cross-border e-commerce, which includes but is not limited to the de minimis packages. In a January meeting with Mayorkas, the National Council of Textile Organizations complained about unfair trade practices, including the de minimis rule. It is unclear how much fentanyl and other illicit drugs may be slipping undetected into the country in the small packages. On a recent Friday morning at Chicago's O'Hare airport, small parcels that had arrived by mail from overseas were on conveyor belts going through X-ray machines for inspection.

Persons: Lindsey Puls, Puls, ”, Alexander Mayorkas, Earl Blumenauer of, ” Blumenauer, Sen, John Thune, LaFonda Sutton, Burke, Charles Benoit, Benoit, Mayorkas, Videojournalist Melissa Perez Winder, Haleluya Hadero Organizations: WASHINGTON, Will, Homeland, National Foreign Trade Council, FedEx, UPS, DHL, eBay, South Dakota Republican, Customs, Custom, China’s Communist Party, Coalition for, Prosperous, National Council of Textile Organizations, National Association of Police, Border Protection, Investments Locations: China, U.S, Shiocton , Wisconsin, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Shein, Singapore, Chicago, United States, Prosperous America, Chicago's, New York

☆ Biden and Xi's meeting sent an important signal for U.S. business in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15, 2023. Kevin Lamarque | ReutersBEIJING — U.S. President Joe Biden's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week has set a bottom line in the relationship which reduces uncertainty for businesses, analysts said. In conversations with Xi, Biden did not budge on export controls, enacted out of national security concerns. Wedding versus marriageAfter meeting Biden, Xi spoke at a dinner with top U.S. business executives in which he said the fundamental question was whether the two countries are "adversaries or partners." No 'splashy deliverables'Long-standing issues for U.S. business operations in China remain, and deals aren't made overnight.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Kevin Lamarque, Joe Biden's, Biden, Xi, Wang Dong, Jake Colvin, Gabriel Wildau, interlocutors, Ian Bremmer, Gary Dvorchak, it's, Jin Canrong, Jin, aren't Organizations: Economic Cooperation, Reuters, Reuters BEIJING —, Institute for Global Cooperation, Peking University, D.C, Foreign Trade Council, Summit, U.S, Biden, Eurasia Group, Mastercard, Monday, People's Bank of, Blueshirt Group, School of International Studies, Renmin University of China, Center for American Studies, Max, Boeing Locations: Filoli, Asia, Woodside , California, Reuters BEIJING, Reuters BEIJING — U.S, San Francisco, U.S, China, United States, Washington, Beijing, People's Bank of China, Taiwan

☆ Analysis-Indo-Pacific Trade Deal Prospects Dim as 2024 US Election Year Politics Loom
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By David LawderSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Biden administration has vowed to continue negotiating an ambitious Asia trade deal, but election-year pressures and resistance to tough commitments from some countries make a deal unlikely, trade experts and business groups say. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi told Reuters that IPEF partners will "recalibrate" the trade talks in 2024. But it gets harder from here, said Wendy Cutler, the former chief USTR negotiator on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with many of the same countries. "Until they do that, the trade pillar will be a tough nut to crack." The Biden administration launched negotiations in September 2022, leaving an impossibly tight deadline ahead of the APEC summit, according to some trade experts.

Persons: David Lawder, Biden, Sarah Bianchi, Wendy Cutler, TPP, Donald Trump's, Cutler, They're, Sherrod Brown, Jake Colvin, Colvin, Lori Wallach, Xi Jinping, Don Durfee, Josie Kao Organizations: FRANCISCO, Reuters, Economic, Economic Cooperation, U.S . Trade, Pacific Partnership, Asia Society Policy Center, APEC, Democratic, National Foreign Trade Council, Trans, Pacific Locations: Asia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Donald Trump's U.S, San Francisco, China

☆ US trade group blasts Canada for refusal to extend digital services tax freeze
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - The U.S.-based National Foreign Trade Council on Thursday blasted Canada for its refusal to back a global agreement to hold off on implementing digital services taxes for at least another year, and said the move could invite retaliation. NFTC President Jake Colvin said he welcomed news from the OECD that most countries with digital services taxes had agreed to extend the moratorium on implementation. He also said the move would allow countries to keep working a global tax deal in good faith. "Canada joined Belarus, Russia and a small handful of others in not joining because they seem to want to move forward quickly with their digital services tax," Colvin said. Colvin said Washington could retaliate under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement if Canada went ahead and implemented the new tax.

Persons: Jake Colvin, Colvin, We're, Chrystia Freeland, Washington, Katherine Tai, Mary Ng, Andrea Shalal, Anna Driver Organizations: Foreign Trade, OECD, Canadian Finance, U.S, . Trade, Canadian Trade, Thomson Locations: U.S, Canada, Belarus, Russia, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

☆ Yellen's China trip yields long meetings, 'cordial' tone, but no consensus
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The accomplishment of the meeting was the meeting itself, not specific issues," said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. A senior U.S. Treasury official accompanying Yellen on her first trip to China as secretary described it as "respectful, frank and constructive," adding: "She was warmly received." Her meeting on Saturday with He, China's new economic czar, was scheduled for two hours but lasted five, followed by a "cordial" dinner, the official said. In the meantime, Yellen said the talks set the stage for more frequent U.S.-China communications at the staff level about economic issues, including areas of disagreement. A possible venue for this would be the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco in November.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Yellen, Lifeng, Scott Kennedy, Premier Li Qiang, Pan Gongsheng, Joe Biden's, Jake Colvin, Hong Hao, Hong, Colvin, Biden, John Kerry, Gina Raimondo, Xi Jinping, Wang Yiwei, David Lawder, Andrea Shalal, Ryan Woo, Ellen Zhang, Qiaoyi Li, Stephen Coates Organizations: . Treasury, U.S, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Global Times, Treasury, Premier, People's Bank of China, National Foreign Trade Council, Grow Investment, . Commerce, Renmin University, Economic Cooperation, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Washington, China's, U.S, United States, Hong Kong, Asia, San Francisco, Anchorage , Alaska

☆ Yellen's China visit aims at 'new normal' with Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Chinese officials are concerned about the Biden administration's plans to limit U.S. companies' China investments and what they see as moves to decouple the two economies. "There is no substitute for diplomacy," said one senior administration official. "Secretary Yellen’s trip is more than a step toward preparation for a potential Biden-Xi meeting at APEC. Despite the cooling relations, trade between the U.S. and China grew in 2022 for the third year in a row, U.S. Commerce Department data show. Two other Cabinet secretaries, Commerce chief Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, met in May with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

Persons: Janet Yellen's, Biden, COVID lockdowns, Antony Blinken, Xi Jinping, Wu Xinbo, Yellen's, Gina Raimondo, Derek Scissors, Yellen, Russia's Wagner, Joe Biden, Xi, Scott Kennedy, Jake Colvin, Donald Trump, Colvin, Lifeng, Liu He, Raimondo, Katherine Tai, Wang Wentao, Andrea Shalal, Michael Martina, Lun Tian Yew, Dan Burns, Heather Timmons, Andrea Ricci Organizations: . Treasury, China's Fudan University, American Enterprise Institute, U.S, Economic Cooperation, Biden, APEC, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Foreign Trade, . Commerce Department, Treasury, . Trade, Chinese Commerce, Thomson Locations: China, Russia, U.S, Beijing, Ukraine, United States, Asia, San Francisco, Washington, Zurich, Wang Wentao .

☆ As U.S. and Chinese Officials Meet, Businesses Temper Their Hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Ana Swanson | David Mccabe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Foreign direct investment in China has fallen to an 18-year low. “The hope is that high-level dialogues like this can start to inject some certainty for business into an increasingly fraught and unpredictable trade relationship,” he said. Still, as one of the world’s largest consumer markets and home to many factories that supply global businesses, China exerts a powerful pull. On a visit to China this month, Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and owner of Twitter, described the American and Chinese economies as “conjoined twins” and said he opposed to efforts to split them. Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, traveled to China in March and lauded the company’s “symbiotic” relationship with the nation.

Persons: ”, Jake Colvin, Mary Barra, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Stephen Schwarzman, Elon Musk, Tesla, Tim Cook Organizations: American Chamber of Commerce, National Foreign Trade Council, General Motors, JPMorgan, Twitter Locations: China, Blackstone

☆ Why Warren Buffett is so keen on Japan's versions of Berkshire Hathaway
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Tim Hornyak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

But Warren Buffett added a spark in April when he visited Japan to announce that Berkshire Hathaway boosted its investment in Japanese trading houses to 7.4%. Buffett said the five — Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui, and Sumitomo Corp. — are comparable to Berkshire itself. Samurai roots for Buffett's Japanese stocks The five trading firms that Berkshire has invested in are the biggest of Japan's so-called sogo-shosha, or general trading companies. Today, Japan's trading companies derive most of their revenue from non-trade activities. Shosha: The Big Five Mitsubishi The largest of Japan's trading companies is Mitsubishi Corp. , set up in 1954.

Led by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Mexican officials set out the U.S.-Mexico bilateral agenda after Biden's arrival in Mexico City on Sunday evening for a North American leaders' summit. "Integration needs to be strengthened," Lopez Obrador told a news conference, saying he expected to reach "good agreements" with Biden. Lopez Obrador is hosting Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau between Monday and Wednesday for the first summit between the three since late 2021. DOMESTIC POLITICSLopez Obrador has also alarmed the United States with a plan to prohibit imports of genetically-modified corn. "To create a North American corridor to outcompete China, the United States, Canada and Mexico need to be on the same economic page," he added.

☆ Exclusive: U.S. Chamber of Commerce warns against draft EU plan to exclude non-EU cloud vendors
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Paresh Dave/File PhotoBRUSSELS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 12 other groups on Thursday warned the European Union against adopting rules that could exclude Amazon (AMZN.O), Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google, Microsoft (MSFT.O) and other non-EU cloud services providers from the European market. ENISA's draft dated May seen by Reuters sets out requirements for a certified cloud service provider (CSP) aimed at preventing and limiting interference from non-EU states with the operation of certified cloud services. "If other countries were to pursue similar policies, European cloud providers could see their own opportunities in non-EU markets dwindle," they said. Not all cloud services," a spokesperson said. The size of the global government cloud market is expected to reach $71.2 billion by 2027 from $27.6 billion in 2021, according to market research firm Imarc Group.

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