KATHERINE TAI

Japan and the United States have reached an agreement on trade in critical minerals for electric vehicle batteries.

President Joe Biden claims he supports our economy. But he has neglected to tend to trade as an engine to create jobs and drive America's economy. Instead, Biden almost ignores it.

Friday morning's Ways and Means Committee hearing on White House trade policy grew tense as Rep. Greg Murphy said Katherine Tai was "too nice" to be U.S. trade tepresentative

"You're too nice a person to be in the job that you’re in," Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) told Katherine Tai during a congressional hearing Friday. "I don’t need your pity," the nation's top trade negotiator told him.

This year’s World Economic Forum theme, a plaintive appeal to find “cooperation in a fragmented world,” seems possessed by ruptures that have taken place around the world.

The United States and European Union have agreed to intensify talks to resolve EU concerns over major subsidies for American companies contained in a U.S. clean energy law.

Mexico's economy secretary has proposed yet another round of talks with the United States on a dispute over Mexico's energy sector.

Kenya’s new president says the Cabinet has “effectively” lifted the country’s ban on openly cultivating genetically modified crops, reversing a decade-old decision as the East African country struggles with food security and a deadly drought

The European Union trade chief says a new U.S. tax credit aimed at encouraging Americans to buy electric vehicles could eventually backfire and limit choices for American consumers.

The United States is putting pressure on Mexico over energy policies that Washington says unfairly favor Mexico's state-owned electricity and oil companies over American competitors and clean-energy suppliers.

The Chinese government says its envoy to trade war talks with Washington has expressed concern about U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports during a phone call with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

President Joe Biden says he plans to talk to Chinese leader Xi Jinping soon as he considers whether to lift some Trump-era tariffs on Chinese goods.

Stocks ended another bumpy week with more losses Friday as investors considered the downside of the still-strong U.S. jobs market.

China’s government has accused Washington of jeopardizing peace after U.S. envoys began trade talks with Taiwan aimed at deepening relations with the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing.

The United States and four other nations emphasized their support for host nation Thailand after they walked out of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group meeting in Bangkok.

Delegates from the United States and four other nations staged a walkout Saturday when a representative from Russia began his opening remarks at a meeting of trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in the Thai capital, officials said. A Japanese official said Japan's Trade Minister Koichi Hagiuda and his counterparts from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Canada walked out of the meeting in Bangkok to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The top U.S. trade negotiator says with world economies all suffering from more than two years of the coronavirus pandemic and global supply problems exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States has an “incredible opportunity” to engage with other nations and forge new partnerships and agreements.

"Sadly the Senate failed to stand in defense of a woman's right to make decisions about her own body," US Vice President Kamala Harris says after a Democratic drive to make the right to abortion the law of the land failed in the US Senate.

China has rejected a U.S. accusation that Beijing is failing to live up to its market-opening commitments in a new round of complaints as companies wait for the two governments to restart talks on ending a tariff war.

The United States has accused China of failing to meet its commitments to the World Trade Organization.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office has filed the first environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office has filed the first environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world's smallest porpoise.

U.S. government officials say they have reached an agreement to essentially lift the 25% tariff that former President Donald Trump imposed on imported Japanese steel.

The United States and the United Kingdom have agreed to begin talks on removing former President Donald Trump’s import taxes on British steel and aluminum.

With Covid-19 vaccination rollouts in low-income countries still lagging far behind those in rich ones, a group of nations continues to push its proposal at the World Trade Organization to lift intellectual property protections for makers of the vaccines. Supporters of the waiver say the spread of the latest coronavirus variant, omicron, brings greater urgency to the need to speed production of vaccines in the developing world. Vaccine makers and other critics of the waiver say it undermines the

U.S. Trade Representative Katharine Tai and Japan's trade minister have agreed to work to resolve a dispute over American tariffs on steel and aluminum.

China’s exports remained strong in October, a positive sign for an economy trying to weather power shortages and COVID-19 outbreaks.

President Joe Biden is praising a new U.S. and European Union agreement that would crack down on “dirty steel” that leads to carbon emissions.

The U.S. and European Union have reached an agreement to settle their diplomatic rift over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs.

Asian shares have slipped in cautious trading despite a rally on Wall Street led by technology companies and banks that erased most of the losses from a sell-off the day before.

U.S.-China talks will be "extremely tough sledding," but reengagement is the right strategy, according to Wendy Cutler of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

President Joe Biden is dispatching White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan for talks with a senior Chinese foreign policy adviser.

The U.S. trade deficit increased to a record $73.3 billion in August as a small gain in exports was swamped by a much larger increase in imports.

The Biden administration has been more skeptical of free trade than many predicted, and remains hawkish toward China.

Tai confirmed a CNBC report last week saying that the Biden administration believed that Beijing has not complied with the phase one trade deal.

Washington must enforce phase one trade deal with China, and will raise broader policy concerns with Beijing, USTR Katherine Tai is expected to say on Monday.

Shares have fallen in Asia after a broad slide on Wall Street led by technology companies.

President Biden's top trade official, Katherine Tai, will announce that China hasn't complied with the phase one trade deal, sources said.

The United States and the European Union have agreed to a "rebalancing" of global supply chains when it comes to semiconductors.

The United States and European Union have agreed to carry on the the work of 10 expert panels to explore and recommend solutions to a variety of trade disputes and challenges.

The urgency between the U.S. and European Union to cooperate on trade and tech broadcasts Western ambition to ante up for competition with China.

The United States and Mexico have restarted high-level economic talks after a four-year pause.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai was speaking Tuesday with business associations, according to a government readout.

The deep freeze in U.S.-China ties has not lifted in the first six months of the Biden presidency. Instead, relations may be growing all the more tense.

Kamau Marshall, who was Biden's director of strategic communications during the 2020 election, is now USTR's deputy assistant for media and public affairs.

President Joe Biden is facing a formidable to-do list now that he’s back from his eight-day trip to Europe.

Scotch whisky makers are breathing a sigh of relief after the United States agreed to suspend tariffs on one of Scotland’s main exports.

Historic trade pact ends long-running dispute that led to billions in tariffs on aircraft, wine and other products.

Historic trade pact ends long-running dispute that led to billions in tariffs on aircraft, wine and other products.

Fresh from supportive summits with allies, Joe Biden is declaring himself ready to take on Russia’s Vladimir Putin in far more confrontational talks.

Extra US tariffs on UK and other goods are delayed as international tax talks continue.

China’s chief economic envoy and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have held their first meeting by video but the two sides gave no indication when negotiations on ending their tariff war might resume.

Longtime diplomat Nicholas Burns is president's pick for China post while former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is tapped for Japan.

The meeting between the top US and Chinese trade negotiators was described as "candid and pragmatic".

Former President Donald Trump is worried about what appears to be a snowballing criminal investigation of his business, and he has been for months, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told CNN on Wednesday. "People close to him all say he is anxious about this," Haberman said. Politico on Wednesday quoted a Trump adviser saying "there's definitely a cloud of nerves in the air" on Trump's team, but CNN's Brianna Keilar also pointed to a different Politico article about Trump working with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on a new "Contract With America." Haberman said that's mostly a way of distracting Trump.

President Joe Biden also gave US intel 90 days to produce a report on the matter, days after reports that Wuhan lab workers fell ill in the fall of 2019.

U.S. and Chinese trade envoys have talked by phone for the first time since President Joe Biden took office, but the two sides gave no sign when negotiations on ending their tariff war might restart.

U.S. and Chinese trade envoys talked by phone Thursday for the first time since President Joe Biden took office, but the two sides gave no sign when negotiations on ending their tariff war might restart. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai discussed her “ongoing review” of the trade relationship, her office said in a statement. Biden has yet to say what approach he will take to the conflict launched by former President Donald Trump, who raised tariffs on Chinese imports over complaints about Beijing’s industrial policy and trade surplus.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had a "candid, pragmatic and constructive" call, China's Ministry of Commerce said.

Gladys Sicknick, the mother of a Capitol Police officer who collapsed during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and later died, is asking Republican senators to pass legislation creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection. The bill passed the House with the support of 35 Republicans, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said the GOP needs to block the commission because it would litigate the actions of former President Donald Trump and "continue to debate things that have been done in the past."

European Union and U.S. top trade officials used a virtual meeting to cement recent advances in settling some key differences that have soured trans-Atlantic relations over the past years.

The UK wants a quick trade deal with Australia, but concerns over agricultural tariffs could get in the way.

Some may find the nation’s relentless culture wars exhausting, but self-described “right-wing ideologue” Mike Davis does not count himself among the battle-weary. The energetic conservative operative announced on Monday the creation of a new group, Unsilenced Majority, that seeks to “oppose cancel culture and fight back against the woke mob and their enablers,” as a press release put it.

The United States has filed its first labor complaint involving Mexico under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, after an old-guard union was caught destroying ballots at a General Motors plant in northern Mexico.

"I'm still in the height of my career," the 79-year-old senator, who's served since 1985, said in a recent interview.

BioNTech said Monday there is currently "no evidence" to support the need to adapt the company's coronavirus vaccine, developed with Pfizer, to be more effective against emerging variants.Why it matters: Some health experts fear that contagious new variants could be more resistant against COVID-19 vaccines, prolonging the pandemic for years to come.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Health officials are still studying preliminary data on new variants, including B.1.617, a variant first detected in India that may be linked to the country's massive surge in cases.Slow global COVID-19 vaccination rates are raising concerns that worse variants of the coronavirus could be percolating, ready to rip into the world before herd immunity can diminish their impact, Axios' Eileen Drage O'Reilly reports.What to watch: BioNTech said that despite the lack of evidence that its vaccine is ineffective against variants, the company "has developed a comprehensive strategy to address these variants should the need arise in the future."For example, BioNTech and Pfizer plan to study the effectiveness of a third vaccine dose to prolong immunity against COVID-19 and to protect against variants. The companies say that the FDA has approved their further research plans. BioNTech and Pfizer are also currently studying their vaccine's effectiveness in children from 6 months to 11 years old and testing its use for healthy pregnant women. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

World Trade Organization leaders have recently urged member nations to come to an agreement on the potential vaccine patent waivers.

Pfizer fell Thursday by as much as 5% from Wednesday's close while Moderna dipped by almost 12% before both stocks recovered most of those losses.

The U.S. backs waiving intellectual property rights in an effort to speed up access to vaccines for people around the world.

The trade official said "the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appears to be downplaying any prospect of an imminent trade deal with a post-Brexit Britain.

Supporters say the move would boost vaccine production but the pharmaceutical industry disagrees.

‘Bold step’ hailed by progressives and medical community

The trade official said "the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures."

President Biden threw his support behind waiving intellectual property rights for the vaccines, yielding to international pressure. The move could allow other countries to manufacture the drugs.

"The administration's aim is to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible," US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said.

The Biden administration is joining calls for more sharing of the technology behind COVID-19 vaccines to help speed the end of the pandemic.

The Biden administration is throwing its support behind efforts to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines in an effort to speed the end of the pandemic. United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the government's position in a Wednesday statement, amid World Trade Organization talks over easing global trade rules to enable more countries to produce more of the life-saving vaccines. “The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines," Tai said in the statement.

While some of the world's wealthiest nations move closer to mass immunity, dozens of low- and middle-income countries have been left clambering for scarce coronavirus vaccines.

Two White House officials say the U.S. trade representative will begin talks in the World Trade Organization on ways to overcome intellectual property issues that are keeping poorer countries from making their own generic version of critically needed COVID-19 vaccines.

The U.S. top trade negotiator will begin talks with the World Trade Organization on ways to overcome intellectual property issues that are keeping critically needed COVID-19 vaccines from being more widely distributed worldwide, two White House officials said Sunday. The White House has been under pressure from lawmakers at home and governments abroad to join an effort to waive patent rules for the vaccines so that poorer countries can begin to produce their own generic versions of the shots to vaccinate their populations. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will be starting talks with the trade organization “on how we can get this vaccine more widely distributed, more widely licensed, more widely shared," said White House chief of staff Ron Klain.

White House Chief of Staff said that the Biden administration will have more to say on the matter in the coming days.

President Joe Biden's first Cabinet meeting looked and felt different from those held by his predecessor.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – Joe Biden will convene his first Cabinet meeting on Thursday, a presidential rite of passage that will be used to promote his new infrastructure plan. Ad“The meetings can help align priorities, build morale, and allow Cabinet members to develop relationships with colleagues who they don’t normally see,” Lu said. The White House has highlighted that this Cabinet is the most diverse in history. In normal times, scheduling an in-person Cabinet meeting would require weeks, if not months, of planning to block off time in the travel schedules of the various principals. The Cabinet members will soon begin to fan out across the country to pitch both the COVID-19 relief and infrastructure plans, officials said.

Security forces stand by on Hledan road in Kamayut township of Yangon in Myanmar, Monday, March 29, 2021. Over 100 people across the country were killed by security forces on Saturday alone, including several children. “The United States strongly condemns the Burmese security forces’ brutal violence against civilians. AdTai's office said the United States was immediately suspending “all U.S. engagement with Burma under the 2013 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.'' AdTwo-way trade between the two countries doesn't amount to much: Myanmar last year was the United States' 84th biggest partner in the trade of goods such as automobiles and machinery.

The only senators of Asian American heritage, they said they would withhold their support for his nominees until the diversity issue was addressed. AdDuckworth had said earlier that she raised the issue with top Biden advisers on Tuesday and afterward called the situation “not acceptable." “I’ve been talking to them for months and they’re still not aggressive, so I’m not going to be voting for any nominee from the White House other than diversity nominees,” Duckworth told reporters. But Hirono later said in a statement of her own that she too welcomed the appointment of an AAPI White House liaison and was dropping her objections. Tai, who was confirmed last week, is the first Asian American and first woman of color to serve as U.S. trade representative.

It's also spurring her and other Asian Americans to push for greater political influence in Washington and other power centers. President Joe Biden and his aides have been repeatedly pressed to include Asian Americans in his Cabinet. Ad“I think symbolism and representation matters, but only up to a point,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. “Those things all contribute to lower rates of political participation among Asian Americans, but people — mistakenly, I think — assume that Asian Americans are somehow less interested in U.S. civic life.”AdThat's evolving. “Asian Americans didn't necessarily grow up with that vocabulary of advocacy and how to fight for ourselves," Meng said.

A leading spirits advocate is imploring top U.S. trade envoy Katherine Tai to not leave whiskey producers behind. Amir Peay, owner of the Lexington, Kentucky-based James E. Pepper Distillery, said American whiskey has become “collateral damage” in the trade disputes. But the breakthroughs left plenty unresolved, including disputes that led to the retaliatory tariffs still hitting American whiskey. AdThe suspended tariffs mean some European spirits producers can ship their products into the U.S. duty free, while American whiskey makers are still subject to tariffs, Whiting said. “We just want a level playing field for American whiskey,” he said.

A big part of this disparity is due to increased demand from wealthy countries, including the United States, for Chinese goods. MDST calculated that Chinese exports led the world with a year-over-year increase of 3.5% in the third quarter. Meanwhile, she added, smaller stimulus efforts in developing nations probably explains much of the lower overall trade volumes. "The shift in consumer spending from travel, vacation and entertainment events to physical goods, mainly bought online, has characterized all the major western economies, in particular the North American countries," Teodoro added. The company also saw order volumes increase after the second stimulus check.

Washington — The Senate confirmed Katherine Tai as the top U.S. trade envoy in an unanimous bipartisan vote on Wednesday. Tai is considered a problem-solving pragmatist, and her nomination by President Biden to be U.S. trade representative drew support from Democrats and Republicans alike. Mr. Biden and his team appear to be in no hurry to reverse Mr. Trump's China tariffs. Far from coordinating with U.S. allies on trade, Mr. Trump sparred with them instead, putting tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and threatening to target European cars, too. Mr. Trump called the TPP a job killer and withdrew from it in his first week in office.

Katherine Tai, nominee for U.S. trade representative, speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – The Senate confirmed Katherine Tai as the top U.S. trade envoy in an overwhelming bipartisan vote on Wednesday . AdFluent in Mandarin, Tai served several years as head of China enforcement at the trade representative’s office. Biden and his team appear to be in no hurry to reverse Trump’s China tariffs. Far from coordinating with U.S. allies on trade, Trump sparred with them instead, putting tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and threatening to target European cars, too.

The U.S. flag flies at a welcoming ceremony between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017. Thomas Peter | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden's team will use "all available tools" to fight China's unfair trade practices, according to a report outlining the new U.S. administration's trade agenda. Collaboration with alliesBiden's administration will cooperate with partners and allies to make sure that China lives up to its trade obligations, the report said. The release of the report comes as Katherine Tai, Biden's nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, awaits Senate confirmation. Tai said on Monday she would work to address a range of issues concerning Chinese trade and economic practices — including intellectual property protection, market access restrictions and censorship, reported Reuters.

Katherine Tai, nominee for U.S. trade representative, testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s pick to be the top U.S. trade envoy promised to work with America’s allies to combat China’s aggressive trade policies, indicating a break from the Trump administration’s go-it-alone approach. Biden and his team have not indicated — and Tai didn't say Thursday — whether they will keep Trump’s tariffs. Far from coordinating with U.S. allies on trade, Trump sparred with them instead, putting tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and threatening to target European cars, too. She handled negotiations with the Trump administration over a revamped North American trade deal.

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2020, file photo Katherine Tai, the Biden administration's choice totake overas the U.S. trade representative, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. President Joe Bidens pick to be the top U.S. trade envoy is promising to work with Americas allies to combat Chinas aggressive trade policies. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's pick to be the top U.S. trade envoy is promising to work with America's allies to combat China's aggressive trade policies, indicating a break from the Trump administration's go-it-alone approach. Fluent in Mandarin, Tai served several years as head of China enforcement at the trade representative's office. Far from working with allies on trade, Trump sparred with them instead, putting tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and threatening to target European cars, too.

French President Emmanual Macron speaks on the telephone with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France November 10, 2020. French President Emmanuel Macron suggested to President Joe Biden two weeks ago that the countries seek a negotiated settlement in the Boeing-Airbus conflict over aircraft manufacturing that has lasted nearly two decades, according to a person familiar with the matter. Biden, according to the person familiar with the call, said the relevant teams would follow up but was noncommittal on the outcome. Neither country's official readout of the call included a mention of the long-simmering trade dispute that spans back to Biden's days serving as a senator and chairing the Foreign Relations Committee. "Our aim is to find solutions to our ongoing trade disputes, including on Airbus/Boeing," said Sophie Dirven, a spokesperson for the European Commission.

His choice for agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, served in the same post for Obama for eight years. Above all, they know how government should and can work for all Americans.”Relying too heavily on Obama administration veterans has already begun to draw some grumbling from members of Biden's own party, however. Mark Riddle, a Democratic strategist who founded a pro-Biden Super PAC during the 2020 presidential campaign, said there is no danger in relying too heavily on “all star” former Obama administration leaders. “If we come out of the box on jobs, jobs, jobs, I feel great. Biden said his choices “have different backgrounds and lived experiences.”“And," he said “they all reflect the very best of our nation.”

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate Katherine Tai to be the top U.S. trade envoy, according to two people familiar with his plans. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Tai earlier oversaw China trade enforcement for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, setting U.S. strategy in trade disputes with China. Biden’s trade representative will inherit a trade war with China, put on pause by an interim trade pact in January that left many of the hardest issues unresolved and U.S. taxes remaining on $360 billion in Chinese imports. As the top trade staffer at Ways and Means, Tai handled negotiations last year with the Trump administration over a revamped North American trade deal. Tai is considered a problem-solving pragmatist on trade policy, which often breaks down into an ideological divide between free traders and protectionists.