In this week’s episode of WITA’s Trade Exchange, our insiders examine EU Trade Commissioner Sefcovic’s visit to Beijing and the Franco-German “non-paper,” weighing whether a kill switch can deliver a second strike capability amid China’s leverage in critical minerals, rare earths, and intermediate goods. The panel considers whether the push is more substantive or theatrical ahead of next week’s European Council meeting, and whether momentum from the G20 and the Milwaukee framework can produce collective action while everyone waits on the Section 301 report. The conversation then turns to the USMCA, where Mexico hopes to land an interim agreement on Section 232 tariffs, Canada remains in a holding pattern, and USTR has already posted its public comment request for a 2027 USMCA review. The panelists also weigh how voters are associating tariffs with price increases ahead of the midterm elections. They close on India’s stuck negotiations, now muddied by the Russian sanctions bill and its October 18th deadline, and on whether a potential President Bolsonaro in Brazil would bring more affinity on trade or a complicated dance given Brazil’s own China exposure.
Featured Speakers:
Dawn Shackleford, President at Looking Glass Trade, LLC; former Executive Director for Trade Agreements Policy & Negotiations, Department of Commerce; former Assistant USTR for WTO & Multilateral Affairs
Kelly Ann Shaw, Partner, Akin; former Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs & Deputy Director, National Economic Council in the first Trump Administration
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
Discussion leader today, 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
