The U.S.-China Phase 1 Trade Agreement under the Biden Administration

The Biden Administration’s U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during her confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and in written answers to questions from Senators was asked many questions about the China trade relationship and the myriad problems U.S. companies have faced in dealing with China or with Chinese imports into the U.S.. Ms. Tai noted in many answers that the “Biden-Harris Administration is engaged in a review of the policies in place to respond to China’s coercive and unfair trade practices * * *. I understand that a comprehensive strategy to confront the China challenge will be formulated based on that review.” Answer to Question 15 from Ranking Member Crapo (page 8).

Among the dozens of questions she received on China, Ms. Tai received a number that involved the U.S.-China Phase One Trade Agreement. For example, in response to a question from Senator Thune, Ms. Tai indicated that she would “assess China’s compliance with the Phase One deal to ensure it is living up to its commitments.” See Senate Finance Committee, Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Katherine C. Tai, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Hearing Date: February 25, 2021, Questions for the Record, page 41, Senator Thune, Question 2, answer, https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Katherine%20Tai%20Senate%20Finance%20Committee%20QFRs%202.28.2021.pdf. The full question and answer are copied below.

“Question 2:

“As a result of the U.S.-China Phase One trade deal, the U.S. has seen export gains to China across many agricultural sectors including soybeans, corn, beef, and pork.

“If confirmed, how would you ensure that China follows through on its Phase One commitments, particularly for U.S. agriculture? What steps would you take to build upon these successes and ensure that U.S. farm and ranch exports to China are not unfairly restricted by tariff and nontariff barriers?

“Answer: The Biden-Harris Administration is engaged in a review of the policies in place to respond to China’s coercive and unfair trade practices, including with respect to agricultural products. I understand that a comprehensive strategy to confront the China challenge will be formulated based on that review. If confirmed, as part of that comprehensive review, I will assess China’s compliance with the Phase One deal to ensure it is living up to its commitments.“

Thus, one can expect that USTR under Amb. Tai will be continuing to monitor China’s implementation and enforcement of a wide range of changes to regulations an d practices intended to remove non-tariff barriers as well as tracking Chinese purchases of U.S. goods against the Annex 6.1 commitments made by China in the Phase I Agreement.

As reported in prior posts, both China and the U.S. have taken steps to implement parts of the Phase 1 Agreement that took effect on February 14, 2020, although the level of actual implementation remains unclear.

Prior posts on the U.S.-China Phase 1 Agreement can be found here: February 6, 2021, U.S.-China Phase I Trade Agreement – data through December 2020; China has increased purchases of agricultural and energy products above 2017 levels but did not reach first year agreed purchases in 2020 and won’t reached the agreed level even if measured from March 2020-February 2021, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/02/06/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-data-through-december-2020-china-has-increased-purchases-of-agricultural-and-energy-products-above-2017-levels-but-did-not-reach-first-year-agreed-purchases-in/; January 9, 2021, U.S.-China Phase 1 Trade Agreement — Data through November 2020; China has increased purchases of agricultural and energy products above 2017 levels but will not reach first year agreed purchases in 2020 whether measured on a calendar basis or on a March 2020-February 2021 basis, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/01/09/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-data-through-november-2020-china-has-increased-purchases-of-agricultural-and-energy-products-above-2017-levels-but-will-not-reach-first-year-agreed-purchases-in/; December 10, 2020, U.S.-China Phase I Trade Agreement – data through October 2020; while China has increased purchases of agricultural and some other products, China remains far behind on the agreed purchases in 2020 whether measured on a calendar basis or on a March 2020-February 2021 basis, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/12/10/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-data-through-october-2020-while-china-has-increased-purchases-of-agricultural-and-some-other-products-china-remains-far-behind-on-the-agreed-purchases-in-2020-w/; November 13, 2020, U.S.-China Phase 1 trade agreement – Data through September 2020; USDA and USTR report on agriculture portion, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/11/13/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-data-through-september-2020-usda-and-ustr-report-on-agriculture-portion/; October 10, 2020,  U.S.-China Phase I Trade Agreement – first six months data on U.S. exports (March-August 2020) covered by the purchase commitments show China needing to triple purchases in next five months to meet first year commitments, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/10/10/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-first-six-months-data-on-u-s-exports-march-august-2020-covered-by-the-purchase-commitments-show-china-needing-to-triple-purchases-in-next-six-months-to-meet-fi/; September 12, 2020, U.S.-China Phase I Trade Agreement – How is China Doing to Meet Purchase Commitments for the First Year; a Review of U.S. Domestic Exports through July 2020, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/09/12/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-how-is-china-doing-to-meet-purchase-commitments-for-the-first-year-a-review-of-u-s-domestic-exports-through-july-2020/; August 8, 2020, U.S.-China Phase 1 trade agreement – review of U.S. domestic exports through June 2020, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/08/08/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-review-of-u-s-domestic-exports-through-june-2020/; July 10, 2020, U.S.-China Phase 1 Trade Agreement – limited progress on increased U.S. exports to China (through May), https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/07/10/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-limited-progress-on-increased-u-s-exports-to-china-through-may/; June 5, 2020, U.S.-China Phase I Deal is Failing Expanded U.S. Exports Even Before Recent Efforts by China to Limit Certain U.S. Agriculture Exports as Retaliation for U.S. Position on Hong Kong, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/06/05/u-s-china-phase-i-deal-is-failing-expanded-u-s-exports-even-before-recent-efforts-by-china-to-limit-certain-u-s-agriculture-exports-as-retaliation-for-u-s-position-on-hong-kong/; May 12, 2020, U.S.-China Phase I Agreement – some progress on structural changes; far behind on trade in goods and services, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/05/12/u-s-china-phase-i-agreement-some-progress-on-structural-changes-far-behind-on-trade-in-goods-and-services/; January 19, 2020, U.S.-China Phase 1 Agreement – Details on the Expanding Trade Chapter, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/01/19/u-s-china-phase-1-agreement-details-on-the-expanding-trade-chapter/; January 15, 2020, U.S.-China Phase 1 Trade Agreement Signed on January 15 – An Impressive Agreement if Enforced, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/01/15/u-s-china-phase-1-trade-agreement-signed-on-january-15-an-impressive-agreement-if-enforced/.

This post looks at U.S. export data for January 2021, a month whose data reflects basically business in the last month of the Trump Administration.

Purchase Commitments

Annex 6.1 of the Phase I Agreement contains commitments for “additional U.S. exports to China on Top of 2017 baseline” for two years, 2020 and 2021. Article 6.3 of the Agreement states that “The Parties project that the trajectory of increases in the amounts of manufactured goods, agricultural goods, energy products, and services purchased and imported into China from the United States will continue in calendar years 2022 through 2025.

The Agreement lists 18 categories of goods grouped in three broad categories (manufactured goods, agriculture and energy) and five services categories. Chinese imports of goods and services from the United States under the Agreement are supposed to increase by $76.7 billion in the first year over levels achieved in 2017 and in the second year by $123.3 billion over 2017 levels. The categories and tariff items included in the goods categories are reviewed in Annex 6.1 of the Agreement and the attachment to Annex 6.1. In the confidential version of the agreement, growth levels are provided for each of the 23 categories of goods and services.

Article 6.2 of the Agreement defines the time period for the purchase commitments as being January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021. So the first year by agreement was calendar year 2020. Calendar year 2021 is the second year of the agreement. The level of increases in U.S. exports to China for 2021 is as follows: manufactured goods $44.8 billion on top of 2017 base line of $58.4 billion (2021 total of $103.2 billion or an increase of 76.81% over 2017 actual); agriculture (including seafood) $19.5 billion on top of 2017 base line of $20.85 billion (2021 total of $40.35 billion or an increase of 93.51% over 2017 actual); energy $33.9 billion on top of 2017 base line of $7.6 billion (2021 total of $41.5 billion or an increase of 447.95% over 2017 actual); services $25.1 billion on top of 2017 base line for the selected services of $53.033 billion (2021 total of $78.133 billion or an increase of 47.33% over 2017 actual). Increases from 2017 for the calendar year 2020 agreed levels were lower than for 2021 (increases over 2017 of $32.9 billion, $12.5 billion, $18.5 billion and $12.8 billion respectively for manufactured goods, agriculture, energy and services). The breakout of services exports is not available for 2020 or January 2021. However, U.S. exports of all services to China for 2020 were $37.921 billion vs. $54.981 billion in 2017, a decline of 31% for all services, thus, U.S. services exports covered by the Phase I Agreement declined in 2020. See U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, MONTHLY U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES, JANUARY 2021, March 5, 2021, page 28, Exhibit 20b, https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/ft900.pdf. While the BEA data don’t show exports of services in January by country, January 2021 total services exports are down from January 2020 (before the pandemic resulted in significant closures) with the largest reductions in travel followed by transport and by maintenance and repair services.

In 2017, the selected goods covered by Annex 6.1 were $86.795 billion of total U.S. domestic exports to China of $120.109 billion, meaning non-covered U.S. exports in 2017 were $33.314 billion. On services, the selected services covered by Annex 6.1 were $53.033 billion of total services exports to China of $54.981. So non-covered services were $1.948 billion. For goods, there were sharp declines in 2020 of U.S. exports to China of non-covered products from the levels achieved in 2017 (roughly $6.6 billion). Non-covered products are slightly up in January 2021 versus January 2017. While the services break out for 2020 is not yet available by country by type of service, total services exports to China (as reviewed above) were down 31% . The non-covered services are relatively small (just 3.5% of total services exports).

Since the Agreement took effect in mid-February, my analysis in prior posts has focused on the period since the agreement went into effect (for statistics, from March 1, 2020). This is consistent with the position that USTR and USDA took in the Trump Administration in an interim report released on October 23 looking at China’s compliance with its purchase commitments in agriculture. “It is worth noting that the Phase One Agreement did not go into effect until February 14, 2020, and March is the first full month of its effect. That means that we have seen seven months of agreement sales.” U.S. Trade Representative’s Office and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Interim Report on the Economic and Trade Agreement between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China, AGRICULTURAL TRADE, October 23, 2020, Page 1.

March 2020-January 2021 data compared to 2017 (other than February); January 2021 compared to January 2017

For purposes of this post, I will look at the March 2020 – January 2021 data compared to January and March-December 2017 data, but I will also look at the first month of 2021 compared to January 2017. In my last post in February, I had reviewed calendar 2020 data compared to 2017 data. The data analyzed is limited to goods since the services data is more limited and has been summarized above.

Looking at U.S. domestic exports for the March 2020 – January 2021 period and projecting for a full twelve months (March 2020-February 2021) shows China meeting 94.64% of first year agriculture commitments, and 51.06% above 2017 actual levels for all months other than February. Total Phase 1 products are projected at only 61.01% of first year commitments with manufactured goods at 52.78% and energy at 44.47%. While agriculture products are projected to exceed 2017 actual by $10.7 billion and energy is projected to exceed 2017 by $4.0 billion, manufactured goods are projected to be $10.2 billion smaller than 2017 actual. Compared to first year purchase commitments, total U.S. Phase I goods exports are projected to be $59.4 billion short of the agreed first year level.

If looking at a calendar year 2021, the data for January show increases for each of the three goods categories over January 201 but each category trails the level of increase needed to meet 2021 purchase commitments. Manufactured goods are up 4.39%, but the commitment levels are 76.81% higher than 2017 actual. Similarly, on agricultural products covered by the Phase I commitments, U.S. exports are up 58.51% from 2017 compared to the 2021 increase of 98.51% over 2017 needed to meet the commitments for 2021. On energy, U.S. exports are up 150.56% over January 2017 but far below the 447.99% increase needed to meet the Phase I commitments for 2021. For all Phase I goods, U.S. exports in January are up 33.34% but the annual increase to meet the Phase I commitment is 113.14%.

To meet first year commitments on a March 2020-February 2021 basis , China would have to import monthly 7.71 times the product from the United States as was done in the first eleven months in the next month (February). On a calendar basis, U.S. domestic exports in January 2021 missed the agreed level on goods by $5.375 billion (or an amount equal to 59.49% of January 2021 actual).

Looking at total U.S. domestic exports of goods to China for the period March 2020 – January 2021., U.S. exports were $109.313 billion ($9.938 billion/month) compared to $111.099 billion in 2017 for the eleven months (all other than February)($10.100 billion/month). These include both products covered by the Annex 6.1 commitments and other products. For January 2021, total U.S. domestic exports to China were $11.254 billion compared to $9.350 billion in January 2017.

Total 2017 U.S. domestic exports of goods to China were $120.1 billion. The Phase 1 Agreement calls for increases on a subset of goods of $63.9 billion in the first year. Thus, the target for the first year of the U.S.-China Phase 1 Agreement is U.S. exports to China of $184 billion if non-subject goods are exported at 2017 levels.

Other U.S. domestic exports not covered by the 18 categories in Annex 6.1 were $33.314 billion in 2017 (full year) and $30.806 billion for 2017 excluding February. For the period March 2020 – January 2021, non-covered products (which face significant tariffs in China based on retaliation for US 301 duties) have declined 18.86%, and total exports to China are down 1.61%. Looking at January 2021, other U.S. domestic exports (i.e., not covered by the Phase I Agreement) were down 13.05% from comparable levels in January 2017.

Thus, the first eleven months since the U.S.-China Phase 1 Agreement went into effect suggest that U.S. domestic exports of the Annex 6 goods will be $91.334 billion if the full year shows the same level of increase over 2017 for each of the 18 categories of goods; non-covered products would be $26.845 billion, for total U.S. domestic exports to China of $118.179 billion. This figure would be below 2017 and dramatically below the target of $184.0 billion (if noncovered products remain are at 2017 levels; $176.938 billion with noncovered products at estimated March 2020 – February 2021 levels) . The projected U.S. domestic exports to China would, however, be higher than the $109.72 billion in 2018 and the depressed figure of $94.100 billion in 2019.

If one looks at January 2021, U.S. domestic exports to China of Annex 6 goods were $8.981 billion, other exports of $2.274 billion, for total domestic exports in January 2021 of $11.254 billion, ahead of January 2017 but $5.375 billion behind the 2021 rate of increase over 2017 of 113.14%.

The 18 product categories included in Annex 6.1 of the Phase 1 Agreement show the following for January, March-December 2017, March 2020 – January 2021 and rate of growth for the first year of the Agreement (figures in $ million):

Conclusion

As reviewed in prior posts, the U.S.-China Phase 1 Agreement is a potentially important agreement which attempts to address a range of U.S. concerns with the bilateral relationship and obtain somewhat better reciprocity with the world’s largest exporter. The Phase 1 Agreement has left other challenges to a Phase 2 negotiation which has not yet begun. USTR Tai has indicated that the Biden Administration will monitor compliance by China with the terms of the Phase I Agreement.

While there has been some progress on non-trade volume issues that are included in the Phase 1 Agreement and some significant improvements in exports of U.S. agricultural goods, there has been very little forward movement in expanding total U.S. exports of goods to China in fact and a sharp decline in U.S. exports of services to China.

The differences in economic systems between China and the United States have made reliance on WTO rules less relevant to the Trump Administration as those rules presume market-based economies and presently don’t address the myriad distortions that flow from the Chinese state capital system. Thus, the Phase I Agreement was an effort to move the needle in trade relations with China to achieve greater reciprocity. It has had some limited success to date. While the Biden Administration is doing a full review of the challenges posed by China’s trade policies, it is good news that they will be working to see that the Phase I Agreement is fulfilled.

Terence Stewart, former Managing Partner, Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, and author of the blog, Current Thoughts on Trade.

To view the original blog post, please click here.