WITA’s Friday Exchange Podcast – Beyond Tariffs and Multilateral Pieties
WITA welcomes former trade negotiators to the Exchange Podcast.
On this week’s episode, former U.S. and global trade negotiators discuss the WTO and multilateralism, as U.S. trade policy shifts towards bilateral trade deals and countries seek to make the WTO fit for purpose in a changing trade landscape.
Featured Speakers:
Introduction: Kenneth Levinson, CEO, Washington International Trade Association
Ignacio Garcia Bercero, Senior Fellow, Bruegel; Former Director for Strategy and Multilateral Affairs, European Commission; former Counselor, European Union Delegation to the United Nations; former Policy Officer, European Commission
Bruce Hirsh, Principal, Tailwind Global Strategies; and former Deputy Assistant USTR for WTO & Multilateral Affairs, among other positions he has held.
Maria Pagan, former Deputy United States Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the WTO; and Former Deputy General Counsel, Office U.S. Trade Representative, among other position’s she has held.
Dawn Shackleford, President at Looking Glass Trade, LLC; former Executive Director for Trade Agreements Policy & Negotiations, Department of Commerce; former Assistant USTR for WTO & Multilateral Affairs
Moderator: Mark Linscott, Senior fellow, Atlantic Council; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative WTO and Multilateral, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, among other positions he’s held.
Watch the Video on YouTube | Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
Recorded at 9:00 AM ET on 09/11/2025 | WITA
Ambassador Jamieson Greer’s Remarks at the 2025 National Conservatism Conference
This piece features an excerpt from remarks made by Ambassador Jamieson Greer at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, D.C. on September 3, 2025:
In the beginning, our Founders debated vigorously the economic order of the new Nation. They knew that just like they had carefully crafted our system of government to promote our values and safeguard our liberties, it was also necessary to set the contours of a domestic economic system which would do the same. This required careful attention to international trade. The Constitution specifically set out authority for the new government to “regulate commerce with foreign nations.” Liberal international trade was not the default setting. The founders knew that other nations should not automatically benefit from free access to our market.
The debates between Thomas Jefferson’s nation of farmers and Alexander Hamilton’s nation of manufacturers resulted in a practical compromise: we would be both. Whether through toil on the land or labor in the factory, we would be a nation of Producers.
Even in their commitment to the yeoman farmer, the Jeffersonians recognized the need for industrial might to maintain our independence. Although he valued work on the land above all else, Thomas Jefferson warned against industrial dependence on foreign powers in the lead up to what became the War of 1812.
The Hamiltonians agreed. Alexander Hamilton had argued that America needed tariffs and industrial policy to promote manufacturing and allow our young country to develop without being subject to the coercive economic policy of the British Empire.
Eventually, that view was perfected by Henry Clay. His unique model, called the American System, combined tariffs and state support for industry with a belief in the power of a large, internal, free market. We guarded access to that internal market very carefully, particularly because other nations were not party to our country’s social contract – the U.S. Constitution. Our Constitution is our most important free trade agreement.
09/03/2025 | Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
Now That U.S. Tariffs Are in Place, French Wineries Are Calculating Survival
Wine’s taste may be bottled poetry, but its mathematics are often merciless. The U.S. government has implemented 15 percent tariffs on all European Union wines. Add on a 15 percent decline in the dollar versus the euro since January, and French wines are potentially 30 percent more expensive the moment they arrive on American shores, and their importers need to pay the customs duties.
That equation threatens to sever one of wine’s most enduring love affairs—that between French producers and American consumers. French winemakers—from small wineries to large négociants, from Champagne to Roussillon—are having to calculate whether they can stay afloat with this new math.
“All the planets are aligned, but in the wrong way,” says Jean-Christophe Meyrou. As general manager of Vignobles K, Meyrou oversees 156 acres of vines and six Right Bank estates, including the newly elevated Grand Cru Classé Tour St.-Christophe. Roughly 25 percent of Vignobles K’s sales come from the U.S. market, which means these tariffs aren’t just numbers. They’re the “straw that could break the camel’s back,” he says.
The stress resonates across France’s diverse terroirs. In Burgundy’s Volnay, American expat Mark O’Connell of Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is watching his $100 bottles potentially jump to $130. “We crave certainty,” he says. Roughly one-third of his 2,000-case production—split between Chardonnay and Pinot Noir—goes to the U.S., his most critical market…
…Shifting to Other Markets
To survive, wineries may need to ship less wine to America and find new overseas markets. Chapoutier champions Canada, where the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has nearly eliminated tariffs and bureaucracy. “The business with French wines and Canada is stronger and stronger,” he said. He also points to emerging South American markets. The U.S. has slipped from first to fifth among his export markets.
Picard and her brother Gabriel have tried to compensate by focusing on 10 other markets, including South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, India and several nations in Africa and Europe. The changing nature of the U.S. tariffs this year has made that market too unpredictable. “It’s hard to plan,” she said. “Businesses require long-term vision and therefore a certain amount of market predictability.”
09/09/2025 | Paige Donner | Wine Spectator
Tariff Analysis Deep Dive: The Most Important Changes For the Auto Industry
Since they were first announced on ‘Liberation Day’ in April, US president Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs have been paused and delayed multiple times. In May, Trump said he would negotiate the rates down with countries who were engaging in “good faith” talks. Then, they hit a stumbling block when a US federal court ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose the reciprocal tariffs on individual countries, but just 24 hours later, the administration’s appeal allowed the tariffs to carry on. The reciprocal rates then went up and down as countries went to the negotiating table. These tariffs (separate from the section 232 tariffs) were due to be implemented from August 1, but experienced more delays.
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico have been complicated, to say the least. With the USMCA up for review next year, the expectation is that tariff-reducing concessions could be made during negotiations. However, at the beginning of August, the US raised tariffs on Canada to 35%, keeping tariffs of 25% on Mexico. For both countries, USMCA-qualifying automotive parts are exempt from tariffs temporarily, while vehicles that are USMCA-compliant are currently tariffed at 25%. Cars built in the US and Mexico can claim back the value of US-sourced parts, although there is still a lack of clarity around this.
US-China talks had tensions rising, with duties racketing up to three-figures, but the countries reached a truce by mid-May, with 30% tariffs on Chinese imports, and 10% on US imports. On August 11, the US and China extended their tariff truce until November 10, holding tariff caps at 30% on Chinese imports and 10% on US imports.
The European Union reached a framework for a deal with the US at the end of July, which reduces the cost of shipping vehicles and parts from the EU to the US from a rate of 27.5% to 15%. Currently, this 15% tariff is not yet in place, with EU documents suggesting it will apply retroactively from August. As it stands, automotive exports from the EU would be taxed higher than those from the UK, which has a 10% tariff after reaching a deal in June, but the UK’s automotive goods have a cap of 100,000 vehicles annually. In response to the deal, industry lobby group European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), which represents 16 OEMs including BMW, Daimler Truck, Ford of Europe and more, said many elements still need to be clarified. In early August, the EU halted retaliatory tariffs on the US for six months while the two countries attempted to finalise the deal. Also as part of this framework, the EU committed to drop its tariff on automotive imports from 10% to 0%. While this has not yet been finalised, it could be significant for large exporters from the US to EU, such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. For logistics firms, the new US-EU framework removes cost pressures on transatlantic shipments but adds little clarity for long-term planning.
09/09/2025 | Megan Kelly | Automotive Logistics
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