Hello from Washington, where the pesky cicada is still attacking at full force, now It is said that Terrorize the pigs in the city zoo.

Anyway, back to trade.Our main content today is about the U.S. campaign against forced labor in remote areas. Concession waters We have collected data on trade in goods for ten years from the World Trade Organization.

The Biden administration continues Trump’s trend

For most “Trade Secrets” readers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is probably best known for being the source of expressionless, expressionless uniformed officials who check passports at U.S. airports.

However, in addition to protecting US border security and performing various other law enforcement functions, this agency also has important tasks in terms of trade policy.

When it was first granted trade enforcement powers in 1930, it did not use them frequently. The Department of Homeland Security, through its customs and border protection department, is basically responsible for seizing any imported products that it believes are manufactured using forced labor. However, in the past four or five years, it has begun to use these powers more frequently.This was first caused by Barack Obama (Barack Obama) rewriting some rules to make it more difficult for goods using forced labor to enter the United States, and escalation under the leadership of Donald Trump. His government discovered in CBP An effective way to attack China’s so-called China Uighurs in Xinjiang abused.

We currently don’t know much about the Biden administration’s trade policy towards China, but we got a strong signal last Friday that it is making combating forced labor a priority — perhaps even beyond solving the noise that American companies are making ( More on that later). In a significant and compelling statement issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security himself, The Department of Homeland Security calls a year-long U.S. investigation Caught the Chinese fishing boat Dalian Ocean Fishery Company by means of forced labor. As a result, tuna and swordfish imported from Dalian will be confiscated at the US border. CBP officials said that the investigation found all the major signs of forced labor on 32 ships owned or operated by the Chinese company, including physical violence against workers, wage deductions and restrictions on movement.

Although this is a continuation of Trump’s trend, Dalian’s suppression of accusations of forced labor by Indonesian workers slightly expands the current typical use of these detention orders: previous orders were mainly concentrated in Xinjiang, where the United States claimed that Uyghurs were being held in detention camps. . Under Trump’s leadership, orders focused on hair products, clothing and cotton, while CBP officials were keen to impress people. This was the first time that the entire fishing fleet was called “detention and release”. Detention order. They are certainly keen to show that they are taking a tough attitude towards China.

Having said that, the voice of forced labor on fishing boats may be the most official U.S. Trade Representative’s policy on China that we currently know about. It can be said that this is not a policy on China, but a broader policy (that is, we oppose forced labor). In this case, they happened to be targeting a Chinese company. The news communication surrounding the CBP announcement is contrary to the fewest details we received in the recent conversation between US Trade Representative Catherine Tay and Chinese counterpart Liu He. We were told that this was a “frank exchange”, and Thailand “raised worrisome questions”-far fewer details than the U.S. Trade Representative’s office published in its other diplomatic documents. We also don’t have any official information on how the U.S. Trade Representative views China’s performance in complying with its Phase 1 trade agreement commitments, or how it views future developments when it comes to the large amount of tariffs remaining in the U.S.-China trade. The Biden administration’s trade policy is clearly articulated as protecting workers’ rights and preventing forced labor, although its broader policy on Beijing remains unclear.

There is one more thing to note here. Obviously, the fishing industry is in a crosshair when it comes to forced labor. At the WTO, the Office of the United States Trade Representative last week submitted a contribution to the long-standing fishing legend, urging other members to curb subsidies for fishing boats related to forced labor. Its proposal was put forward within a few days after the DHS/CBP announcement. It is worth noting that on Friday, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (Alejandro Mayorkas) stated that he would “continue to actively investigate the use of forced labor by ocean fishing vessels and other broad industries.” We can look forward to it. Go to more DHS to investigate forced labor.

We will pay close attention to more signs of where the U.S. Trade Representative’s office will be working with China-but we suspect that if it focuses on forced labor, the road ahead may be difficult. At the same time, we hope to see more information about trade enforcement in DHS’s friends at airports and ports.

Concession waters

More good news about world trade is provided this time by the WTO, which released the latest version of the Trade in Goods Barometer last week. We have plotted the readings for the past ten years.

The latest data for March is the highest to a certain extent, indicating that current trade activities are well above trend levels. Sub-readings for electronic components, air transportation, container transportation, automotive products, and export orders have all risen from already high levels. Claire Jones

Trade ties

Latest report about Trade restrictions on necessities From the Global Trade Alert Group (food, vaccines, medical kits, etc.) showing an astonishing number of new products Food intervention this year.

That might be linked With this, From The New York Times: How Interesting Reading The world is exhausted.

There is indeed one Global chip shortage -Thanks A perfect storm The impact of geopolitics and the pandemic has exacerbated concerns about foreign supply risks. ($, Nikkei Index)

Matthew Boesler wrote for Bloomberg that the pandemic has also had a huge impact on the economy.He said that the Covid-19 trauma has been Changed the economy, Maybe forever, thinking that although policymakers know how to create a recovery, it’s not clear whether they can Manage prosperity.

China now has more Apple supplier Deport Taiwan more than any other country. This shows that Washington’s attempts to unravel the supply chains of the United States and China have little impact on the world. The most valuable technology company. ($, Nikkei Index)

Stay in China, Noah Barkin German Marshall Fund Say constructive ability China-Europe Dialogue Excessive trade (or anything) is disappearing.

Finally, Joseph Stiglitz said Europe should join the U.S. Implementing a The lowest corporate tax in the world.