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3.9. In October 2021, the United States and the EU further announced their commitment to negotiate the world's first emissions-based sectoral arrangement on steel and aluminum trade. Together, the United States and EU are working to address the carbon intensity of steel and aluminum traded into their market, as well as countries that adopt non-market practices that contribute to worldwide over-supply. The arrangement will drive investment in green steel and aluminum production in the United States, Europe, and around the world, reducing emissions in two of the most carbon-intensive industrial sectors.

[the United States and the EU further announced their commitment to negotiate the world's first emissions-based sectoral arrangement on steel and aluminum trade.]
3.10. The agreement is proof that trade policy is an important part of our climate agenda, and that effective climate action can—and must—support good-paying, quality jobs. It is also a first in the fight against climate change: never before have two global partners aligned their trade policies to confront the joint threats of climate change and global market distortions, ensuring that trade works to solve the challenges of the 21st century.

3.11. The United States continues to encourage like-minded trading partners to work with us to address the emissions intensity of steel and aluminum production and non-market excess capacity in the steel and aluminum sectors. For example, through regional engagements, the United States plans to pursue opportunities to maintain and improve environmental protection of our trading partners and increase climate ambition, including decarbonization of our respective economies. We will seek to enable and mobilize the technologies, public and private investment, and technical resources needed to scale up clean energy infrastructure and facilitate trade in climate-friendly goods, services, and technologies, while generating high-quality jobs that power economic growth and advance our Paris Agreement commitments.

3.12. In addition, in June 2022, the United States joined other WTO Members to reach agreement on the first multilateral trade agreement with environment at its core – the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. The Agreement prohibits subsidies to those engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing or fishing related activities in support of IUU fishing, subsidies for fishing on overfished stocks, and subsidies for fishing on the unregulated high seas. It also includes enhanced transparency provisions, which will provide important additional information regarding Members' fisheries and subsidies programs. Negotiations will continue in order to reach agreement on additional disciplines on subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity. The United States is committed to working with all WTO members to ensure this agreement promptly enters into force, and to further enhance the disciplines, to improve the sustainability of our fisheries resources and the lives of fishers.

3.13. The United States also seeks to protect our oceans and marine resources, and those whose livelihoods depend on them, from the harm caused by plastic pollution. In 2022, the United States supported the launch of multilateral negotiations on an international agreement on plastic pollution. The United States recognizes the key role that trade plays as both a contributor to the problem of plastic pollution in the environment, including the marine environment, and its potential to serve as an important part of the solution.

3.14. Finally, the United States will continue to support and promote more circular and resource efficient approaches in other international fora, including the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment and the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions, and at the OECD. In the APEC forum, we are leading a Recyclable Materials Policy Program under the Committee on Trade and Investment. We will continue to support and expand this work, to help develop the capacity of APEC economies to identify and frame domestic policies that promote solid waste management and recycling infrastructure.

3.21. (...), agencies looked at new policies and investments across a number of sectors to address the supply chain vulnerabilities that come from geographically concentrated sourcing and to spur the transition to a low carbon economy.

3.23. The United States is engaging bilaterally and multilaterally with its trading partners and stakeholders to, inter alia, identify supply chain bottlenecks and chokepoints; ensure supply chains embody strong environmental and labor standards; and facilitate trade in the context of supply chain shocks.

4.6. USTR chairs and administers both the Trade Policy Review Group (TPRG) and the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC). (...). The 21 voting member agencies of the TPRG and TPSC are: (...); the Environmental Protection Agency; (...); the Council on Environmental Quality; (...)

4.9. ().. in 2021 and 2022, the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) held public hearings or fostered public participation by inviting written submissions and responses to questions from the TPSC on a range of topics, including: (...) the Extension Review of the Safeguard Action on Imports of Certain Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells (September to December 2021); (...)