I’m not sure whether this will raise any eyebrows over here in Beijing. It’s possible, as several of the statements made are direct shots at China, but all in all, the new initiatives announced by the US Trade Rep yesterday in Pennsylvania (in steel country) are a lot more PR than they are substantive policy.

If I were not such a gentleman, I might go as far to say that the USTR/Obama Administration is just giving a political hand job to certain constituencies here. But that’s crude, so I would never say it.

Let’s take a look at some of the details.

The initial summary in the USTR press release sets the tone:

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced a number of new trade enforcement measures aimed at saving jobs and creating new jobs in the United States by leveling the global playing field for American workers and businesses.

Pure vanilla trade-speak, signifying nothing. By the way, anyone using the term “leveling the playing field” should be immediately euthanized, have their Internet disconnected, or some other equivalent punishment.

Let me be a little more specific. None of the initiatives Kirk announced are bad things, and several of them, if implemented, sound great. But to announce them as new enforcement policies that will save jobs to a group of folks in the old rust belt — that’s not cool.

Do you consider these things to be “new policies” or simply administrative tweaks or restatements of already existing responsibilities?

A foundation for success:

• Using the WTO to eliminate unfair export restraints
• Improving access for American beef producers
• Addressing violations of the Softwood Lumber Agreement
• Enforcing Intellectual Property rights

Leveling the playing field:

• Proactively monitor and identify labor violations, and enforce labor provisions of trade agreements
• Engage with FTA partners to resolve labor issues
• Promote international labor norms

Breaking down trade barriers:

• Find, highlight, and fight barriers to trade
• Engage with global partners
• Team up across the U.S. Government

Please. Just that last one alone, “Team Up Across the U.S. Government,” is enough to make me queasy. What does that mean, exactly? I wonder what Ron Kirk would say?

Kirk: “Well, Mr. Abrams, in answer to your question, we used to piss all over folks from Commerce and Agriculture, but under my new initiatives, not only will we start taking their phone calls, but we will also grunt attentively every few seconds during the call to show we are listening.”

Hmmm. OK, anything here for China? Sure. If you look at the first section above, the first bullet point on export restraints, and the last one on IP rights, are specifically aimed at China. USTR’s supplementary materials on these specifically call out China (while patting themselves on the back for action) as a bad actor.

The rest of this stuff represents sops to certain constituencies — note the middle section devoted to labor issues. Is USTR really going to start enforcing labor provisions of FTAs? Probably about as likely as my cat learning how to make espresso (I can dream about it, right?).

Note: I’m actually a big fan of USTR. Lots of very smart and hard-working lawyers over there. One feels obliged to call out the political flim-flammery when you see it, though.