Law360 Quotes Clete Willems on US Trade Agenda
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For its article “Biden's Trade Agenda Furthers Trade As Diplomatic Tool,” Law360 quoted Akin lobbying & public policy partner Clete Willems. The article looks at President Biden’s trade policy agenda and its use of trade as a vehicle to further other administration policy goals.
On the topic of international frameworks, regarding which Law360 notes the administration’s growing list of new frameworks, both bilateral and multilateral, Clete, who served in the Trump administration as Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics, said that the President’s approach is “insufficient, and I think that there’s a growing recognition among lawmakers that it doesn’t meet the moment.”
Clete noted that the 2023 trade agenda notes the centrality of supply chain resilience, but there is a general lack of details around the platform and, in particular, a lack of incentives that could encourage companies to move their supply chains away from China.
He added, “The absence of a trade agenda with real market access provisions in the Indo-Pacific is absolutely glaring.”