China’s Tariff Circumvention: Record-High Direct Investment in Mexico
China reached a record high of direct investment in Mexico last year, where many of China’s manufacturers are setting up operations near the U.S. border to avoid U.S. tariffs. A news organization in Japan says China’s investment in Mexico was up 76% in 2021, drawing investment from 1,289 Chinese companies. Read more from Nikkei Asia.
With GSP Renewal in Limbo, US Importers Turn to Chinese Products
The U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program remains in legislative limbo heading into the Fall this year, after lapsing at the end of 2020, and many U.S. companies are turning to China to provide lower cost products that used to be imported from GSP-eligible countries. The path forward for GSP renewal “remains deeply conflicted,” Politico reports, due to “partisan divisions on the role and direction of U.S. trade policy.” Read more from Politico.
First In-Person IPEF Meeting Announced for Next Month in US
The U.S. announced this week it will host the first in-person Ministerial meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in Los Angeles next month, on September 8-9, 2022. The U.S. and 13 Indo-Pacific countries are working on an economic framework “that will fuel economic activity and investment, promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and benefit workers and consumers across the region.” Read the announcement.
