Mexican truck access in limbo — Steel levies expected — China solar duties could expand — Japanese carmakers tout economic impact

By ADAM BEHSUDI | 10/07/14 10:01 AM EDT

With help from Doug Palmer, Matthew Korade and Alex Guillén

UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR MEXICAN TRUCKS — A controversial pilot program that allows Mexican truckers access to the U.S. interior is set to expire this month, with no clear idea about what happens next — and independent truckers have begun pressing for answers, POLITICO Pro Transportation’s Heather Caygle reports.

“The cross-border pilot program, a three-year partnership allowing approved Mexican carriers to operate beyond a 25-mile border zone, will expire in mid-October. Federal officials have been vague about what happens after the pilot program’s expiration date, but that’s not good enough for a group representing independent owner-operators and small fleet truckers.

“They say it’s time for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which oversees the program, to detail the next steps.

“‘We’re simply asking the agency to provide some insight, tell us what you plan to do,’said Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA). Spencer sent a letter to the FMCSA last week questioning how the agency has handled the program as well as the validity of inspections conducted over the last three years.” Read the full story here: http://politico.pro/1uVeaE2

IT’S TUESDAY, OCT. 7: Welcome back to Morning Trade. where we contemplate the 13th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan while the U.S. and allied air assault rains down on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant targets in Iraq and Syria. Reach me atabehsudi@politico.com and @abehsudi, Doug Palmer at dpalmer@politico.com and@tradereporter or Matthew Korade at mkorade@politico.com and @mjkorade.

COMMERCE TO ANNOUNCE FINAL STEEL DUTIES — The Commerce Department today will announce final dumping duties on specialty steel imports from China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan.

Commerce slapped preliminary duties ranging from 7 percent to more than 400 percent on the steel back in May following a complaint from Ohio-based AK Steel Corp. that the six countries were dumping the product onto the U.S. market. The combined imports of the steel from those countries, which is used in motors, lighting ballasts and ignition coils, topped $60 million last year, according to the Commerce Department.

China sold about $11.9 million worth of the steel into the U.S. in 2013 and got hit with the highest preliminary duties at 407 percent. German imports, which amounted to $7.7 million in 2013, faced duties of 86 to 99 percent. Japan, which had $18.2 million in U.S. sales last year, received duties of 135 to 205 percent. Sweden sold $10.6 million worth of the product in the U.S. last year and was hit with preliminary duties ranging from 98 to 127 percent. South Korean steel sales totaled $4.1 million in 2013 and got handed a 7 percent rate. Taiwan, which sold $8.1 million of the product into the U.S. last year, was given a tariff rate of 28 percent.

COMMERCE PROPOSAL WOULD BROADEN SCOPE OF SOLAR DUTIES — The U.S. Commerce Department is considering expanding the scope of proposed duties on billions of dollars of solar energy products from China and Taiwan in a case brought by the American division of SolarWorld AG that is advancing toward a final decision in December.

The International Trade Administration issued the proposed change late Friday afternoon and asked for public comment.

The proposal would broaden the scope of the duties to cover any solar module produced in China, regardless of where the cell or other inputs are manufactured, said Timothy Brightbill, an attorney with Wiley & Rein, who representatives SolarWorld Industries Americas. It would also broaden the coverage of solar energy products from Taiwan, Brightbill said.

The change would bring U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties more in line with those imposed by the European Union, and also make them easier to enforce, Brightbill said.

SolarWorld won initial anti-dumping and countervailing duties against China in 2012, but filed a second case against both Taiwan and China in late 2013 to close what it called a loophole in the earlier decision that allowed Chinese solar modules made with Taiwanese cells to escape duties. A final decision on duties in the second case is expected in December. Read the full Commerce notice here: http://politico.pro/1s2JdeC

JAPANESE CAR COMPANIES TOUT AMERICAN-NESS — Japanese automakers are touting the fact that they’re more American than ever based on new data showing how the companies are making record-high contributions to the U.S. economy.

Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other companies produced 3.6 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2013, which represents a 10.6 percent increase compared to 2012, according to the data released Monday by the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Japanese companies also exported more than 391,000 autos from their U.S. plants in 2013, which was nearly 56,000 more vehicles when compared to 2012.

The association also touts that fact that Japanese purchases of U.S. auto parts increased by 11.3 percent in 2013, amounting to more than $57 billion in transactions. Get the full data here:http://bit.ly/1oKvZyv

ABE SAYS JAPAN WILL ‘STRATEGICALLY’ PRESS FORWARD ON TPP — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made clear to the country’s lawmakers that he’s still fully behind Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“We will create free and large economic zones at the global level,” Abe said in a Sept. 29 policy speech to the Japanese Diet, according to the English translation posted Monday to the prime minister’s website. “We will continue to press forward with economic partnerships strategically, including negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement and negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU and East Asia. We will bring about the early entry into force of our EPA with Australia, deepening our economic bonds still further.”

Abe framed the trade deals as important for the diplomatic and strategic interests of Japanrather than arguing their economic benefits. In the TPP negotiations, the U.S. and Japan are still at odds over Tokyo’s reluctance to lower tariffs on sensitive agricultural goods.  Read the full speech here: http://bit.ly/1nb5qH4

MONIZ: DOE WILL CONSIDER NEPA-READY PROJECTS ‘EXPEDITIOUSLY’: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz doesn’t “understand the merit of the argument” from critics of DOE’s handling of LNG export applications, he said Sunday on Platts Energy Week TV, Pro Energy’s Alex Guillen writes. “We, in making our public interest determination, clearly have to look at the environmental impacts,” Moniz said, noting applicants go through National Environmental Policy Act reviews with FERC. “Our new process simply says, you come to us with an application that’s ready to go, and we will look at it expeditiously. I think we’ve shown that. We got one project coming to us out of FERC, and within six weeks we acted on that, and in this case approved the project in Louisiana,” he said, referring to Sempra’s Cameron LNG facility in Hackberry, La. More via Platts: http://bit.ly/1dzM5E8

ALL MY EXPORTS LIVE IN TEXAS — U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman spent Monday in Texas connecting the dots between the state economy and the major trade deals under negotiation with the European Union and Asia-Pacific countries.

“Texas is a powerful testament to how Made-in-America exports unlock opportunity on Main Street for families and businesses,” Froman said at a press conference with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) after addressing local business leaders at the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the USTR said in a news release.

The TPP and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will enhance Texas’ access to three of its top-five export markets: Mexico, Canada and the European Union. And TTIP will include the state’s top-three sources of foreign investment: the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, the release said.

Breaking down the figures, USTR said Texas exported a record $279.5 billion in merchandise in 2013, supporting 1.1 million jobs and contributing to $2.3 trillion in total U.S. exports, USTR said in a release on the visit.

Petroleum and coal products accounted for $60.6 billion of those exports, followed by electronics at $48.2 billion, chemicals at $47.9 billion, machinery at $30 billion and transportation equipment at $24.4 billion, USTR said. Texas is also the sixth-largest exporter of agricultural products, shipping $6.5 billion worth in in 2012, including $1.6 billion in cotton, $855 million in beef and veal, and $323 in poultry, the office said.

Read the USTR’s fact sheet on Texas exports here: http://1.usa.gov/ZrHRyY

INTERNATIONAL OVERNIGHT:

Japan’s chief TPP negotiator, Koji Tsuruoka, blasts what he views as one-sided coverage of the bilateral talks with the U.S., the Economist reports: http://econ.st/1BKvD0v

Agriculture ministers from Burkina Faso and Georgia tell a Food and Agricultural Organization meeting that rich countries are subsidizing their farmers at the expense of developing countries, Reuters reported: http://reut.rs/1q70pu9

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