https://asia.nikkei.com/economy/trade-war/trump-tariffs/trump-national-security-tariffs-threaten-621bn-in-trade-with-asia
“But there has been little clarity from the White House on how it will determine where a product was manufactured, said Dawn Shackleford, a former U.S. trade representative official for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “There is a need to develop a rules of origin [scheme] that is more broad-based for the region and that isn’t finalized yet,” she said.
For countries that have reached deals, significant issues remain unresolved. Dawn Shackleford, who has worked in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce, pointed out that the agreements all lack enforcement measures, a standard component of such deals.
“What is making these agreements binding?” she said. “Traders can’t rely on a PDF of a letter they need; they need, you know, something with some type of legal certainty to make it binding for them to be able to properly comply.”
Shackleford, who advises domestic importers, has also been fielding concerns about how the tariffs will be implemented by Customs and Border Protection, due to the number of different tariffs that apply to some items.
The US breach of the most-favored-nation principle when it imposed global “reciprocal tariffs” gave rise to the interpretation that MFN treatment and the rules-based order were as good as gone. But MFN remains prevalent in the conduct of cross-border trade in the rest of the world and is likely to remain so. While it does need rescue, MFN is not quite as dead as Monty Python’s Norwegian blue parrot. https://www.hinrichfoundation.com/research/article/wto/mfn-not-dead-yet
Dawn Shackleford moderates a high-level discussion on the state of the multilateral trading system, the role of the WTO in today’s global economy, and key issues Members are considering as they look towards the future of the global trading system.
High-level discussion, featuring Dawn Shackleford and other trade experts, on the outcomes of President Trump’s recent trip across Asia, looking at the trade landscape across Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, China, and Japan.Https://usispf.zoom.us/rec/share/QK9u2s3yLde6c0saD_Z16HGixFSAjbBxU7H4A5sO3oNMLN26Ew42peifxqCSqjDP.ttkNwktg6_YeYG5p Use code: 0E7j^G1A
This episode of WITA’s Friday Exchange, trade experts, including Dawn Shackleford, unpack the trade impacts of the Trump–Xi meeting; break down what we know about trade talks with Japan and Korea; deals with Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, and other bilateral developments from Trump’s Asia tour.
On this episode of WITA’s Friday Exchange, trade experts, including Dawn Shackleford, discuss President Trump’s pique over anti-tariff ads and President Reagan’s legacy, the new U.S.–Australia agreement on critical minerals, and the prospect for trade deals between the U.S. and its Asian trading partners, including an expected meeting between President Trump and President Xi.
In this episode of WITA’s Friday Exchange, former trade negotiators, including Dawn Shackleford, turn their focus towards the world’s most populous country, India, where trade frictions have defined the relationship for generations. Panelists discuss the geopolitical complexities of trade with India, tariff and non-tariff barriers, and key issues such as agriculture and digital trade.
On this week’s episode, former U.S. and global trade negotiators, including Dawn Shackleford, discuss the WTO and multilateralism, as U.S. trade policy shifts towards bilateral trade deals and countries seek to make the WTO fit for purpose in a changing trade landscape.
