WITA’s Friday Exchange: 10th Avenue (Trade) Freeze Out: The U.S. EU, India, and China Learning to Embrace the Chaos
Former Trade Negotiators Discuss This Week’s Tariff Trade Developments.
No one understands the dynamics with key U.S. trading partners better than the people who led these kinds of difficult trade negotiations for the United States. Panelists will update our viewers on the trade policy announcements, what remains undone; and what are expected next steps in these trade negotiations.
In this week’s episode, the OG trade insiders dive into the developing new trade world paradigm; Secretary Rubio’s visit to India; the EU moving forward to implement the Turnberry agreement with the U.S., and confronting their own China contradictions. Our former negotiators also talk about tariff uncertainty over the impending 301 tariffs (a feature, not a bug?), and what these new developments mean for the future of international trade cooperation and confrontation.
Featured Speakers:
Introduction: Kenneth Levinson, CEO, WITA – The International Trade Association
Wendy Cutler, Senior Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute; former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
Mark Linscott, Senior Advisor, The Asia Group; Senior Advisor, U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for WTO and Multilateral Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Dan Mullaney, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Moderator: Joe Damond, Non-resident Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Southeast Asia program; former Deputy Assistant USTR for Asia
Watch the Video on YouTube | Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Recorded at 9:00 AM US/ET on 05/29/2026 | WITA – The International Trade Association
Agriculture Under USMCA: North American Perspectives
On Thursday, May 28, as part of its USMCA Review Series, WITA convened the agriculture community from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to discuss how the USMCA (CUSMA/T-MEC) is working in practice, key challenges facing the sector, and priorities for the review process of the six year old agreement.
Please join WITA as we convene the agriculture community from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to discuss how USMCA is working in practice, key challenges, and priorities as the review process continues.
Featured Speakers:
John Bode, President & CEO, Corn Refiners Association
Joseph Glauber, Research Fellow Emeritus, International Food Policy Research Institute
Sergio Gómez Lora, CEO, Mexico’s Business Coordinating Council
Michael Harvey, Executive Director, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance
Moderator: Darci Vetter, Vice President of Public Affairs, Driscoll’s; former Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
05/28/2026 | WITA – The International Trade Association
Delegation Of Tariff Authority By Other Means
In February 2026, the Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s expansive tariff regime, holding in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to impose tariffs on imports from every country in the world. Within weeks, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) responded by launching two sets of investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes investigation into other countries’ practices that may burden or restrict U.S. commerce.
These latest investigations collectively cover almost all trade into the United States (roughly 99 percent). They involve alleged structural excess capacity in 16 economies (including China, the European Union, Japan, Korea, and Mexico), and lack of sufficient protections against imports made with forced labor in 60 economies (again involving China, Japan, and the EU, as well as Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). The scale of these investigations is unprecedented, as is the administration’s transparent intent to use Section 301 to replace the tariffs imposed under IEEPA that the Supreme Court had just invalidated. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, for example, said in March that he expects “tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months.”
The legal and constitutional question is whether this effort will succeed. More precisely: can the president use perfunctory Section 301 investigations against every major trading partner as an adaptable, permanent mechanism to set and then adjust tariff rates for every country in the world indefinitely, at the president’s will?
05/26/2026 | Gregory Shaffer & Jeremiah May | Just Security
A Plan to Revitalize the World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is experiencing a serious crisis arising from tensions that are internal to the global trading system and other tensions rooted in domestic political constraints in the United States and China and the geopolitical rivalry between them.
In this context, four critical areas for WTO reform can be identified: joint action to support sustainable development, improving disciplines on subsidies, facilitating the integration of plurilateral agreements into the WTO framework and, as a culmination of the reform process, reforming dispute settlement. WTO reform will require willingness on the part of the European Union to lead in establishing a coalition of middle powers based on its network of free trade agreements. Because of uncertainty about the extent to which the US and China are prepared to engage, the EU and its partners should also be ready to take plurilateral initiatives outside the WTO, provided these contribute to the reinforcement of the rules-based trading system.
Introduction
The failure of the March 2026 World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with no agreement on reform and no final declaration, was an illustration of the deep crisis affecting multilateral institutions. The most significant factor behind the failure was the difficulty in striking political compromises at a time of geopolitical fragmentation and increasing trade tensions.
This raises questions about the role of the WTO in the future global trade regime. Is the rules-based trading system based on the principle of non-discrimination ending? Or is there scope to build on the system by agreeing targeted reforms that will continue to enable rules-based cooperation?
Read the Full Policy Brief Here
05/26/2026 | Ignacio García Bercero | Bruegel
EU-China Relations: A Timeline
China Briefing is a publication of Dezan Shira & Associates. Following are excerpts.
The European Parliament elections, held between June 6 and June 9, 2024, have ushered in a new era for EU-China relations. The election results revealed a significant shift in the political landscape, with centrist parties losing ground to far-right groups like the Identity and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). This political realignment is poised to influence the EU’s approach to China, introducing more varied and potentially conflicting perspectives on policy.
Traditionally, the EU has maintained a cautious stance toward China, epitomized by the 2019 publication of the EU-China Strategic Outlook, which framed the relationship as one of “partnership, competition, and systemic rivalry.” This tripartite approach was later reiterated in the European Council’s Conclusion on China.
However, the narrative toward China has taken a decisive turn with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s speech delivered on March 30, 2023. This speech marked a shift towards a more assertive stance, further strengthened by the release of the European Economic Security Strategy in June of the same year….
In the aftermath of the 2024 elections, the increased fragmentation within the EU Parliament suggests a more complex and uncertain path to forming a cohesive strategy toward China. This uncertainty poses challenges for European companies conducting business with China, as well as Chinese and global businesses operating in Europe, who must now navigate a more unpredictable regulatory environment.
05/25/2026 | China Briefing Team | Dezan Shira & Associates, Hong Kong
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