Category: Press Releases and Statements

NFTC Submits Comments for Autos Section 232 Investigation

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Washington D.C. – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today submitted comments to the Department of Commerce for the Section 232 Investigation into Imports of Autos and Automotive Parts. Following submission of the comments, NFTC President Rufus Yerxa issued the following statement:

“Today NFTC joined the U.S. auto industry in opposing new tariff barriers on autos and auto parts under Section 232 because such action will cause greater harm than good to America’s auto industry, which is now the world’s most competitive and dynamic producer.

“U.S. auto manufacturing is booming, and we are growing production, sales and exports at an impressive rate. New tariffs on autos and parts, especially on top of the already-damaging steel and aluminum tariffs, will drastically raise production costs for our auto companies, who will have to pass those costs on to consumers. These tariffs will also make it almost impossible for U.S. manufactures to sell their cars abroad in the face of foreign tariff retaliation. We exported 2 million autos last year, and we can grow that number if our government concentrates on opening foreign markets instead of raising barriers and costs here at home.”

“Just this week I had the chance to see U.S. auto manufacturing at work at Toyota’s plant in Princeton, Indiana,” Yerxa continued. “During this visit, I saw a right-hand drive SUV roll of the line, ready for export to Australia. I hope the Administration will concentrate its negotiating energies on how to increase those export opportunities. More than 95% of the world’s consumers live abroad and we need open world trade to reach those consumers in order to grow our businesses and produce more jobs for American workers. That’s where future economic success lies, not in raising new barriers.”

To read the full comments, click here.

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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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Business Associations Call for Greater Congressional Oversight of U.S. Trade Policy

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Washington D.C. – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) joined leading business associations in calling for greater Congressional control over Presidential use of tariffs and other trade policy instruments. This call comes amidst rising concern over the Administrations decisions regarding the implementation of tariffs on imports, even those from our allies, and the damage these tariffs are inflicting on U.S. businesses and consumers.

In a letter delivered to Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee and to Chairmen Brady and Ranking Member Neal of the House Ways and Means Committee late yesterday, close to 60 associations urged Congress to reassert the balance between Congress and the Executive Branch in managing U.S. trade relations.

“We strongly believe that, in order to change the current path that the Administration has chosen to take on trade, Congress must reassert itself and oversee our country’s trade policy, especially the use of unilateral tariffs,” said Rufus Yerxa, President of the NFTC. “As is evidenced by the broad group of trade associations who signed this letter, every sector of the economy is feeling the effects of the Administration’s current trade policy, which hurts far more workers and consumers than it could ever help.”

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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ACSAT Welcomes Congressional Efforts to Limit Use of Section 232 Tariffs

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Washington D.C. – Rufus Yerxa, President of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), today issued the following statement on behalf of the Alliance for Competitive Steel and Aluminum Trade (ACSAT) regarding efforts in Congress to limit the President’s use of Section 232 tariffs.

“ACSAT welcomes the news that members of the Senate and the House are moving forward with legislation that limits the President’s ability to implement tariffs based on Section 232 investigations. This delegation of authority was given by the Congress to the President to allow him to limit imports when faced with direct national security threats. However, in recent months, it has become clear that the Administration has misused its authority under Section 232 by implementing broad tariffs on imports from our closest allies rather than designing a coherent trade policy that addresses unfair trade practices around the world.

“Unilateral protectionist tariffs will harm our own economy and cost more jobs than they save. As we have already seen, these actions by the Administration will result in limiting our export opportunities as our trading partners retaliate against these unjust actions.

“We strongly support Congress’ efforts to reign in the Administration’s inappropriate use of Section 232 and to avoid a resulting breakdown in global trade rules, further alienating our closest partners.”

 
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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Statement on Tariffs on Imports of Steel and Aluminum from Mexico, Canada and the EU

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Washington D.C. – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President Rufus Yerxa today issued the following statement regarding the Administration’s decision to impose Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Mexico, Canada and the European Union.

“The NFTC is increasingly concerned about the Administration’s trade policy and what these actions, when taken as a whole, mean for the future of U.S.-based companies who depend on a functioning international trading system to succeed. The United States has greatly benefited from the existing international trading system, and we remain convinced that dealing with unfair trade practices around the world requires multilateral diplomacy, not unilateral tariffs.

“Today’s announcement that the European Union, Mexico and Canada will no longer be exempt from tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum is especially problematic. Not only are these countries among our most important trade and security allies, but they represent a significant percentage of the world’s consumers who have, until now, made the U.S. an export powerhouse.

“We continue to urge the Administration to reconsider the application of these tariffs on our trading partners and to ensure that measures intended to deal with problematic trade practices around the world comply with our international obligations.”

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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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ACSAT Urges Commerce to Revise Regulations Governing the 232 Tariffs Exclusion Process

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Washington D.C. – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today submitted comments to the Department of Commerce on behalf of the Alliance for Competitive Steel and Aluminum Trade (ACSAT). The comments highlight numerous issues with the process to apply for exclusions from the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. 
 
ACSAT represents a broad cross-section of industries that produce intermediate and finished goods containing steel and aluminum, as well as a wide range of manufacturers and farmers who are suffering from the direct and indirect consequences of these unilateral tariffs on steel and aluminum. In submitting these comments, the Alliance is supported by 48 trade associations covering a wide variety of industry sectors.
 
“We strongly believe that tariffs are not the right way to address global overcapacity in steel and aluminum created by China’s unfair trade practices. We believe instead that the U.S. should work within the existing global framework of trade rules to address these practices,” said Rufus Yerxa, President of the NFTC. “Businesses all across the country have been gravely affected by these tariffs, and the cumbersome and inefficient exclusion process is only making matters worse. The process is confusing and costly, and it is disproportionately affecting small and medium-sized manufacturers all over the country who do not have the expertise or resources to effectively participate in the process.”
 
In the comments, ACSAT addresses a number of deficiencies in the regulations that Commerce is using to govern the exclusion request process. Specifically, ACSAT criticizes Commerce for not allowing trade associations to file an exclusion request on behalf of their members and to not approve exclusions that can apply to all users of a product. Through the comments, ACSAT also question Commerce’s need for separate request filings for products which have only minor variations, such as width or length differences. Finally, they question why Commerce has not developed a way for companies to protect from public disclosure business confidential information which may be relevant to a product exclusion request. Such information is routinely protected from public disclosure in other Commerce Department administrative trade proceedings. 
 
The deficiencies in the product exclusion request process are negatively impacting U.S. manufacturers and their ability to obtain product exclusions in a timely and efficient manner. The Alliance urges Commerce to revise the regulations governing this process to ensure that U.S. companies can obtain the relief they deserve in this challenging trade environment.
 
To read the full comments, click here. 
 
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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC President Testifies in Section 301 Hearing

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Washington D.C. – Following his testimony in front of the Section 301 Committee on the Administration’s proposed action pursuant to the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) Section 301 investigation of China, National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President Rufus Yerxa today issued the following statement:

“During today’s hearing we reiterated the importance for U.S. business and consumers of finding a strategy that forces China to abandon its problematic trade practices. However, imposing tariffs under Section 301 is not the answer. 

“Section 301 was designed to be used a means to an end, not as an end in its own right, and it must be used as part of a carefully orchestrated, deliberate and defensible effort to dissuade other countries from engaging in unfair behavior. For this to work effectively, the Administration must focus its efforts on working with our key trading partners around the world and using all aspects of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy to mobilize global support for lasting change in China.” 

To read the full testimony, click here.    

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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Outlines Impact of Tariffs on Chinese Imports on U.S. Business and Consumers

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Washington D.C. – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on the impact to U.S. business and consumers of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports resulting from USTR’s Section 301 investigation.

“There is no denying that China engages in discriminatory trade practices, and our member companies fully recognize this fact,” said NFTC President Rufus Yerxa upon submission of the comments. “China must change these practices if it wants to sustain a durable trade and investment relationship with the United States and other major economies.”

“Premature unilateral tariffs on Chinese exports are a bad idea for the U.S. economy” Yerxa continued. “Not only will these tariffs fail to address the problems that our companies encounter when doing business in China, but they will further alienate our allies and raise costs for U.S. businesses and consumers. Instead, we need to work with our closest trading partners to bring about meaningful, and more importantly permanent, changes to China’s problematic trade practices. Only a sustained global effort based on American principles of fairness and respect for rules will succeed in influencing China’s policies.”
 
To read NFTC’s comments, click here.
 
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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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Tax Reform Sparks Hopes, Questions for Executives in 12th Annual Tax Policy Forecast Survey by Miller & Chevalier and the National Foreign Trade Council

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Executives welcome legislation’s impact on competitiveness, but request clarity

Washington, DC, April 16, 2018 – Just months after passage of the first comprehensive tax reform law enacted in more than 30 years, tax executives are optimistic about the effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) on their businesses. But they believe more work remains to be done, and most respondents intend to request regulatory guidance or technical corrections to the law, according to results of the 2018 Tax Policy Forecast Survey, published today by Miller & Chevalier Chartered and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC).

 
Cover of 2018 Tax Policy Forecast Survey – Click for Report   Thumbnail of 2018 Tax Policy Forecast Survey Infographic
Click Images to View Full Report and Infographic
 
Respondents are nearly unanimous in their belief that the TCJA will improve the standing of U.S. businesses on the global stage. In addition to increased competitiveness of U.S.-based businesses, industry leaders overwhelmingly expect that the U.S. will become more attractive for foreign direct investment. The reduced corporate tax rate post-TCJA has moved the U.S. from the highest rate among large economies to a much more competitive position, increasing the attractiveness of the U.S. economy for businesses in search of investment opportunities.
 
“For years, respondents told us that one of the main goals of tax reform would be to address the high statutory U.S. tax rate – and last year’s legislation did that,” said Miller & Chevalier Chair Marc Gerson, former majority tax counsel to the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. “However, our respondents also recognize that administrative guidance, technical corrections, and other mechanisms are needed to provide certainty to taxpayers, and it’s unclear in the current regulatory and administrative environment when we’ll see this necessary clarification.”
 
Respondents lack consensus regarding which parts of the new legislation most need attention, though most share the common TCJA concern that Congress will not be able to pass a technical corrections bill in a timely manner. Unlike the TCJA, technical corrections cannot be enacted using reconciliation measures, so a bipartisan vote will be required to enact a technical corrections bill. The political environment, coupled with the upcoming midterm elections, makes the prospects for such bipartisan legislative action challenging.
 
Respondents also believe that other legislative matters, including those in the headlines and outlined during the Presidential campaign, such as an infrastructure spending package and immigration reform, will dominate the agenda of President Donald Trump – the individual whom respondents think will have the most significant impact on tax policy in 2018.
 
“Respondents have historically viewed Congressional leaders as the individuals who would most heavily influence tax policy,” said Cathy Schultz, National Foreign Trade Council Vice President for Tax Policy. “Ranking President Trump as the most influential in this year’s survey shows that respondents understand the importance of the TCJA’s implementation to the President, though they also recognize that there are other agenda items that may dominate his attention.”
 
Survey Highlights

  • Respondents still seem to be weighing the TCJA’s impact and are approaching the changes from a wide swath of perspectives. For example, while 59 percent of executives believe the TCJA’s dramatic corporate rate reduction from 35 percent to 21 percent will decrease their taxes, one-third say the new law will have no impact or will actually raise their taxes.
  • 73 percent of respondents plan to seek regulatory or other administrative guidance with respect to the TCJA, and 61 percent will seek technical corrections to the law. However, 43 percent of respondents are concerned that Congress won’t be able to effectively enact such technical corrections in a timely manner, and another 23 percent worry about the TCJA’s ability to endure following the 2018 and 2020 elections.
  • 59 percent of executives believe an infrastructure spending package will be enacted this year, and 46 percent believe we will see immigration reform – the latter even though Congress held several failed votes on immigration over the survey’s open period. Both topics are hot-button issues that will require significant Administration focus to advance.
  • There is lack of consensus among respondents regarding which provision in the TCJA is in greatest need of guidance. Executives are almost equally divided between wanting guidance regarding the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) rules (17 percent), the base erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT) (16 percent), the pass-through deduction for qualified business income (16 percent), and the limitation on the deduction of business interest expense (15 percent).
A full copy of the survey results and analysis is available here. A link to the survey results infographic is available here.
 
About Miller & Chevalier
Founded in 1920, Miller & Chevalier is a Washington, DC law firm with a global perspective and leading practices in Tax, Litigation, International Law, Employee Benefits (including ERISA), White Collar Defense and Internal Investigations, and Government Affairs. Miller & Chevalier is a top-ranked firm sharply focused on targeted areas that interact with the federal government. Over the past three years, the firm’s lawyers have represented more than 40 percent of the Fortune 100, one-quarter of the Fortune 500, and approximately 30 percent of the Global 100. Based in Washington, DC, a significant number of firm lawyers have held senior positions in the U.S. government and have written many of the regulations they currently help clients navigate. For more information on the firm, visit www.millerchevalier.com.
 
About the National Foreign Trade Council
The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating a rules-based world economy. Founded in 1914 by a group of American companies that supported an open world trading system, the NFTC and its affiliates now serve more than 300 member companies through offices in Washington, DC, and New York.
 
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CONTACTS:
 
Marc Gerson, Chair, Miller & Chevalier, 202.626.1475
Catherine Schultz, Vice President for Tax Policy, National Foreign Trade Council, 202.887.0278, ext. 104
Megan Duero, Media Relations, Greentarget, 312.253.7293

NFTC Statement on Tariffs on Imports from China

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Washington D.C. – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) President Rufus Yerxa today issued the following statement regarding the President’s decision to implement tariffs on imports from China resulting from a section 301 investigation initiated in August 2017:
 
“While we share many of USTR’s conclusions about the multitude of Chinese practices that are discriminatory and highly damaging to U.S. companies and technologies, we want USTR to focus on actions that will force China to address our concerns rather than to engage in an escalating conflict. The most important step right now is to get buy-in from key trading partners—Europe, Japan and others—to our indictment of China’s behavior. We should then coordinate with them in ramping up pressure on China. 

“In implementing a joint strategy with our trading partners, selective use of trade and investment tools may end up in the mix. But premature, unilateral resort to high tariffs on a wide range of consumer products at the outset will do more harm than good. It will lessen support from our allies, encourage retaliation against sectors like agriculture and actually make it harder for U.S. businesses to compete in China.

“We urge the Administration to build international support for a real effort to confront China’s policies.” 
 
To read NFTC’s letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committee, click here. 
 
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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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NFTC Weighs In On China 301 Investigation

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In letter, NFTC President asks Congress to urge the Administration to take a measured approach in its Section 301 Investigation on China. 
 
Washington D.C. – The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) today asked Congressional leaders to urge the Administration to take a measured, multilateral approach to deal with China’s discriminatory trade practices. 
 
In a letter, sent earlier today to the Chairmen and ranking members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, NFTC President Rufus Yerxa outlined his membership’s agreement with the Administration’s proposed findings that China is imposing unreasonable and discriminatory restrictions on U.S. businesses, but raised major concerns about premature imposition of unilateral tariffs on a wide array of imports from China, as apparently contemplated by USTR. 
 
The letter suggests that use of unilateral actions before outlining the specific actions demanded of China and engaging in a period of real negotiations would be contrary to historical use of Section 301. NFTC companies believe this course of action would enable other countries to gain advantages in the Chinese market and make U.S. companies less competitive in the global economy, all without dealing with China’s problematic approach to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation.
 
“I think The Administration has not really sought much business input before deciding its likely actions,” Yerxa noted, “so my members felt a need to raise a warning flag with Congress prior to this week’s hearings.”
 
Full text of the letter:
 
March 20, 2018
 
Senator Orrin Hatch 
Chairman
Committee on Finance
United States Senate
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
 
Senator Ron Wyden
Ranking Member
Committee on Finance
United States Senate
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
 
The Honorable Kevin Brady
Chairman
Committee on Ways of Means
United States House of Representatives
1102 Longworth House Office Building 
Washington, DC 20515
 
The Honorable Richard Neal
Ranking Member
Committee on Ways of Means
United States House of Representatives
341 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
 
Dear Chairmen and Ranking Members:
 
As your committees prepare to conduct hearings this week on the trade policy agenda, we would like to share with you our organization’s views about the Administration’s Section 301 investigation into China’s acts, policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation.
 
NFTC member companies have significant concerns about China’s growing use of trade and investment policies, including those designed to promote “indigenous technologies.” These practices deny national treatment and create discriminatory burdens that are unreasonable for American companies, innovators and workers.
 
While NFTC supports efforts to investigate and address these discriminatory practices, the Council and its member companies are interested in a strong, multi-pronged effort aimed at improving the ability of U.S. companies to compete in China rather than making things worse. Our observations are directed at this fundamental goal.
 
The overall focus of the Section 301 investigation should be to bring China to the negotiating table for a meaningful resolution of specific, sector-by-sector issues with the ultimate goal of removing the offending practices and policies. Premature, unilateral sanctions alone are unlikely to achieve this objective. It is critical that the United States work with our allies and major trading partners to identify and outline the specific actions we seek from China, and to devise a strategy to increase pressure in order to guarantee all of our exporters and investors fair treatment in these areas. Multilateral pressure and a consensus with our allies will be key to maximizing leverage over China’s practices.
 
The Council is particularly concerned with reports that the Administration is considering immediate imposition of tariffs on up to 100 categories of products including consumer electronics, toys, IT products, furniture and sporting goods, as a potential remedy prior to any coordinated negotiating effort. This runs contrary to the long history of successful use of Section 301 as a carefully managed device to obtain foreign compliance rather than a pretext for import protection. 
 
Unilateral imposition of tariffs prior to any meaningful negotiations with China will raise charges that the U.S. has ignored its WTO commitments and will turn the focus from China’s unjust behavior to the legitimacy of our own action. This will, in turn, alienate many of the trading partners we are relying upon to support our cause and may embolden China to resist our efforts. It will provoke retaliation by China against major U.S. exports, causing significant harm to key U.S. industries and agricultural interests and increasing the likelihood that competitors from Europe, Japan and elsewhere supplant American businesses, innovators and farmers as suppliers in China’s market. 
 
Higher tariffs on a broad range of consumer goods will increase the shopping bill for all Americans, while tariffs on components will harm U.S. productivity in all sectors and U.S. manufacturing exports by making it more expensive and challenging to procure key inputs. At a time when the U.S. economy is enjoying a resurgence thanks to tax and regulatory reform, these tariffs run the risk of stifling our own growth while making our exporters less competitive in the global economy. In combination with the tariff increases already announced on steel and aluminum, these additional taxes will be even more harmful to domestic manufacturers. 
 
Finally, it is reported that the Administration is also considering measures to impose “reciprocal investment restrictions” on Chinese investors in the United States as part of its response under Section 301. Efforts to develop new investment restrictions on China should be the subject of extensive consultations with U.S. companies, as it is vital to consider existing U.S. investment interests that could be adversely affected if the matter is not handled appropriately. Furthermore, as with other possible Section 301 remedies, proposed investment restrictions should not be imposed immediately, but should be used as leverage to obtain the far more desirable goal of fundamental changes in China’s investment and IP regimes.
 
We urge your committees to impress upon USTR the importance of a strategy to address Chinese policies and practices in a manner that will achieve maximum benefits for U.S. trade and investment interests and avoid unintended effects that may cause greater harm than good to U.S. economic interests.
 
Sincerely,
 
Rufus Yerxa
President

To download the full text of the letter, click here.  

 
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About the NFTC

Serving America’s Global Businesses Since 1914– The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
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