WITA's Friday Exchange

Former Trade Negotiators Discuss This Week’s Tariff and Trade Developments

WITA's Friday Exchange is a news podcast hosted by WITA DC, with 56 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

WITA DC hosts WITA's Friday Exchange, a news show with 56 episodes published.

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  WITA's Friday Exchange

  Ep. 56: Kick the Dog to Avoid Poking the Bear: Canada's 232 Countdown, USTR's India Dilemma, a Transshipment Trojan Horse

  Aug 14, 202649 min

  Our trade insiders count down to the August 19th tariff deadline with Canada. Is an interim deal in the card and does trading away autos, steel, and aluminum leverage help or hurt the USMCA review and talks with Mexico? Then they turn to stalled Southeast Asian and Indian negotiations awaiting the pending excess capacity 301s, with deals already struck sitting unratified while countries jockey over rates and coverage. And the core debate: do the administration's latest China moves, new drone and polysilicon tariffs layered onto an existing truce, amount to kicking the dog to avoid poking the bear? What does that signal to neighbors wary of Beijing landing the better deal? They close with a weary eye on the administration's transshipment report and its missing piece: a plan to work with allies rather than go it alone. Featured Speakers: Wendy Cutler , Senior Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute; former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Kellie Meiman Hock , Senior Counselor, McLarty Associates; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University former Director of Brazil and the Southern Cone, Office of the United States Trade Representative Mark Linscott , former Assistant USTR for South and Central Asia and before that WTO and Multilateral Affairs and currently a Senior Advisor at the Asia Group and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Moderator: Joe Damond , Non-resident Senior Associate at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in their Southeast Asia program; former Deputy Assistant USTR for Asia

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  WITA's Friday Exchange

  Ep 55: A Simmer Becomes a Boil: Section 301 Tariffs, China Truce Questions, and a US-EU Digital Dialogue

  Aug 7, 202646 min

  In this week's episode, our trade insiders examine the wave of Section 301 tariffs tied to forced labor claims. They dig into the legal framework for these actions, the countries identified in the forced labor Section 301 investigation, and prior court decisions involving USTR and executive branch trade actions. The insiders also cover the excess capacity investigation and its potential implications for countries such as Vietnam and the European Union. The panel then turns to the current state of the U.S.–China trade truce ahead of a high-level Chinese visit expected next month and the broader outlook for bilateral trade relations. They also discuss the possibility of a Section 301 investigation involving EU digital trade and how it intersects with the Turnberry discussions, before concluding with the tariff uncertainty surrounding Canada amid the ongoing USMCA review and broader negotiations. Featured Speakers: Ed Gresser, Vice President & Director for Trade & Global Markets, Progressive Policy Institute; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Trade Policy and Economics - author of the Trade Fact of the Week Blake Harden , Managing Director, Washington Council Ernst & Young; previously served as Trade Counsel on the House Ways & Means Committee; and in the office of the Chief Counsel at U.S. Customs and Border Protection Daniel Mullaney , Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East Moderator: Mike Smart, Managing Director, Rock Creek Global Advisors; former Director for International Trade and Investment, National Security Council, The White House; former Trade Counsel, Democratic Staff, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

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  WITA's Friday Exchange

  Ep. 54: The Cul-de-sac Conundrum: China's Excess Capacity, 301s, 308s, and the USMCA Reckoning

  Jul 31, 202643 min

  This week's episode examines the legal durability of Section 301 tariffs and the untested Section 338s as tools for enforcing forced-labor and discrimination-based tariffs. The insiders weighed how each section could fare before the courts and what procedural gaps, like country-specific fact-finding, could weaken them on appeal. The panelists consider whether these actions are genuinely about changing trading partners' practices or simply generating leverage against China. The conversation then turns to the state of the USMCA review, contrasting a relatively measured negotiating track with Mexico against a more contentious relationship with Canada shaped by ongoing rules-of-origin disputes and broader trade tensions. The panel wraps up with a discussion of China's response to recent excess capacity claims and why the debate is likely to remain at the center of U.S.-China trade policy. Featured Speakers : Peter Harrell, Visiting Scholar, Georgetown Institute for International Economic Law; former Senior Director, International Economics, at the White House under President Biden, whose LinkedIn posts, along with Wendy’s, are much reads for trade nerds. Stephen Vaughn , Partner, International Trade, King & Spalding LLP; former General Counsel, Office of the United States Trade Representative under first Trump Administration Arun Venkataraman , Partner, Covington & Burling; former Assistant Secretary of Commerce & Director General of the US & Foreign Commercial Service; and former Director for India and associate general council at USTR Moderator: Kellie Meiman Hock , Senior Counselor, McLarty Associates; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University; Board Member, Inter-American Dialogue; former Director of Brazil and the Southern Cone, Office of the United States Trade Representative

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  WITA's Friday Exchange

  Ep. 53: Just in Time Delivery Tariffs: Replacing IEEPA Tariffs with Section 301, and Dusting Off Section 338

  Jul 24, 202644 min

  n this week's episode, our trade insiders dissect the administration's newly imposed Section 301 tariffs on forced labor, hitting 60 trading partners. Our former negotiators debate the legal standing of the tariffs and the likelihood of whether or not they’ll hold up in court. They also unpack the novel use of Section 338 to threaten Canada ahead of the USMCA review, and the Pandora's box it might become. Finally, the insiders discuss looming excess capacity 301s, the EU's relief over Turnberry, and the case for a bipartisan review to modernize America's trade laws.Featured Speakers: Wendy Cutler, Senior Vice President, Asia Society Policy Institute; former Acting Deputy U.S. Trade RepresentativeDaniel Mullaney, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle EastChris Padilla, Senior Advisor, Brunswick Group; former Under Secretary of Commerce for International TradeModerator: Joe Damond, Non-resident Senior Associate at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in their Southeast Asia program; former Deputy Assistant USTR for Asia

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  WITA's Friday Exchange

  Ep. 52: Return of the Tariff Hammer? Presidential Trade Power and the Graham Russia Sanctions Bill

  Jul 17, 202640 min

  In this week's episode, our trade insiders dug into the “Graham Bill” - the bipartisan, bicameral Russia sanctions bill and its open-ended tariff authority. They debated its potential trade repercussions, whether tariffs or targeted export controls are the more effective tool, and whether placing tariffs on allies drives wedges rather than results. They also examined the administration's broader push to reconstruct a tariff regime reminiscent of the IEEPA era, Brazil's Section 301 case as a possible preview of what's ahead, stalled negotiations with India, Vietnam's own Section 301 investigation, and why trading partners may be slow-walking talks. The episode also returned to a broader question running through the discussion: will Congress take steps to reclaim its trade authority, or continue delegating authority to the Executive? Featured Speakers: Blake Harden , Managing Director, Washington Council Ernst & Young; previously served as Trade Counsel on the House Ways & Means Committee; and in the office of the Chief Counsel at U.S. Customs and Border Protection Mayur Patel , Partner, Hogan Lovells; former Chief International Trade Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Neena Shenai , Partner, International Trade Investment and Market Access, WilmerHale; former Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Industry and Security at the US Department of Commerce; and former Trade Counsel, House Committee on Ways and Means Moderator: Mike Smart , Managing Director, Rock Creek Global Advisors; former Director for International Trade and Investment, National Security Council, The White House; former Trade Counsel, Democratic Staff, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

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