Trump Administration To Push For 'Huge' Changes In Global Tariffs, Lighthizer Says

On Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer spoke at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on U.S. trade in Washington, and said that the administration will work towards a "reset" of World Trade Organization tariffs.

According to a report, Lighthizer believes that the U.S. is experiencing unfair treatment because of the current tariff determinations set by the World Trade Organization. He added that the said tariff rates do not take into account the country's economic standpoint.

He claimed in a hearing led by the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that some countries which have progressive economies impose tariff rates far higher than that of U.S.

Additionally, he said that proposals concerning notification enforcement will soon gain more attention and that the said changes will affect the differential treatment being enjoyed by developing countries.

The report cites that Robert Azevêdo who is the current leader and Director-General of the World Trade Organization will be leaving his post in August this year. Although Azevedo's resignation came a year early and amid appeals dispute, Lighthizer sees this as an opportunity to jumpstart reforms.

Such reforms could include the administration's longstanding complaint to hold China accountable for its exploitative trade practices and that it should no longer be treated as a developing country.

Violations to the current WTO rules were also brought into light by the trade chief who implored that the Trump administration will be looking deeply into the practices of some foreign countries.

Lighthizer revealed that the Trump Administration is already building the groundwork for decreasing the $800 “de minimis threshold” by which products can be shipped to the U.S. without duties.

Further, current tariff treatments have been put into scrutiny by Lighthizer who documented that the country has received a combined 1.2 billion untaxed shipments in fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Sixty percent of the said shipments reportedly came from China.

The trade chief described the comparison to be out of bounds while referring to the just 68 million taxed imports wherein only 11% came from China.

Before the hearing ended, he maintained that the volume of shipments that were taxed versus that of which were untaxed was very disproportionate and is hinting that China and other countries engaging with the U.S. in trade are exploiting its high de minimis threshold in order to avoid tariffs.