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    Government/Policy

    July 14, 2023

    USTR, Top EU Trade Official to Meet on Steel, Aluminum Agreement

    US Trade Representative Katherine Tai will travel to Brussels next week to continue discussions on establishing a “Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum” with the European Union.

    Ambassador Tai will be in Belgium on July 20-21 to speak with European Commission EVP Valdis Dombrovskis. This is their second meeting in July, the USTR press office said in a statement on Friday, and “reflects the strong ongoing commitment from the US and the EU to reach consensus on the agreement by the October 2023 deadline.”

    Latest in Government/Policy

    Leibowitz: Will the next Congress take aim at Trump’s tariffs to address affordability concerns?

    The election last Tuesday was a stunning rebuke to President Trump and many of his policies. High prices and pessimism about the economy were clearly on the minds of voters and the members of Congress they sent to Washington. Trade policy can help address those issues. Some trade experts think the new Congress could deal with tariffs on imports from Canada early on. I also expect hearings and new bills to more closely control presidential authority over tariffs. Much is unknown about what will happen come January, when new members convene. But some points are already obvious to those who see politics as a means to an end (governing) rather than as an end in itself (getting elected).

    Canadian minister urges probe of Cliffs’ handling of Stelco

    Canadian Minister of Industry Melanie Joly has urged that Canada’s Competition Bureau examine Cleveland-Cliffs’ conduct in the Canadian marketplace following its Stelco acquisition. Minister Joly sent a letter to Jeanne Pratt, Commissioner of Competition, on Friday, regarding testimony Cliffs Chairman and CEO Lourenco Goncalves made to the US Congressional Steel Caucus, and a subsequent interview to the CBC. oly said that in the Caucus testimony, “Goncalves stated that his company had acquired Stelco to ‘block’ it from selling into the US market.”