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

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 AdministrationArun 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 USTRModerator: 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