The Obama administration is challenging Chinese export subsidies across a wide-range of industries at the World Trade Organization, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and several lawmakers on Feb. 11. The U.S. asked China for WTO consultations over the subsidies, which are being provided to producers and exporters in the textile and shrimp export industries, among others, said lawmakers on Feb. 11 (here). If those talks fail, the U.S. may pursue a dispute settlement panel.
The Obama administration donated $1 million for assistance to developing countries in implementing the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, the WTO said in recent days (here). The money goes to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund. The U.S. has so far contributed more than $14 million to the fund since 2001, said the WTO. In the statement, U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke praised the facilitation agreement, which is due for implementation after more WTO members ratify it.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is taking a break this week from Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks, following heightened focus on both negotiations since the beginning on 2015. USTR Michael Froman will meet with Brazilian trade chief Armando Monteiro on Feb. 12 in Washington, and Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will speak to a Coalition of Services on the same day. Froman will then speak to the U.S.-China CEO Investment Dialogue in New York City on Feb. 13.
Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam should be added to the U.S. Trade Representative’s “priority watch list” in its annual Special 301 report, the International Intellectual Property Alliance said in a Jan. 6 news release (here). The USTR report reviews IP protections and other market practices in foreign countries, highlighting those nations with the most problematic IP standards. The Association of American Publishers, the Entertainment Software Association, the Independent Television & Film Alliance, MPAA and RIAA are IIPA members (here). Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates should be added to the 301 report’s general watch list, said IIPA. The USTR should have “special engagement” with Italy and Spain, it said. “No country, including the U.S., is immune from the harms posed by high levels of unfair practices on the Internet,” said RIAA Executive Vice President Neil Turkewitz in a separate release (here). But there are “distinctions to be made between the efforts of different countries, and today’s filing highlights practices in some of the countries that have been least responsive in addressing piracy.”
The Obama administration is aiming to wrap up Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and pass an implementation bill before the end of 2015, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told CNBC in an interview that aired Feb. 5 (here). USTR has failed to meet a series of self-declared deadlines for concluding TPP over recent years. The TPP will create more jobs and raise wages, said Froman, adding that trade fits into the administration’s goal of sharpening “middle-class economics.” Not only will the TPP, along with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, ease U.S. trade to and from partner countries, the deals will bring global investment to the U.S., said Froman. Despite a wide range of domestic and international resistance to the agreement, Froman said the administration is laser-focused on securing both pacts. “We’re not considering failure,” he said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative kicks off another busy week on Feb. 2, as acting deputy USTR Wendy Cutler and the agency's chief agricultural negotiator Darci Vetter meet with Japanese negotiators in Washington to try to hammer out outstanding issues in bilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership market access talks, USTR said in a weekly schedule update. Cutler and Vetter will meet with their Japanese counterparts on Feb. 3, as well. USTR Michael Froman will also meet with European Union Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Arias Cañete in Washington on Feb. 3. Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman speaks before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Health and Workforce Competitiveness Initiative on Feb 4, and the next day two USTR officials will participate in a trade conference in Brussels, Belgium. Vetter will then wrap the week up with a speech to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in San Antonio on Feb. 6, USTR said.
The skyrocketing Asian population and regional economic gains will open the door for huge amounts of U.S. agricultural exports in the coming years, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be critical in ensuring U.S. companies have fair access to those markets, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a speech to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in Washington on Feb. 2, according to prepared remarks released by USTR. “With the contours of a final TPP agreement coming into focus and strong expressions of bipartisan support for increasing ‘Made-in-America’ exports, it’s looking like some of that excitement will emerge from our trade policy,” Froman said, adding that there will be roughly 3.2 billion middle-class consumers in Asia by 2030.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is continuing its recent offensive with several high-level Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks this week, as well as testimony from USTR Michael Froman to Congress, it said in a weekly update (here). Assistant USTR for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Barbara Weisel, will travel to New York City on Jan. 26 to partake in TPP chief negotiator talks. Froman will then testify on Jan. 28 before the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees for hearings scheduled to cover broad U.S. trade policy. The next day, Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will meet in Washington with top Japanese trade negotiator Takeo Mori on auto trade rules in a final TPP deal. To wrap up the week, Froman will also meet separately with European Parliament Committee on International Trade Chairman Bernd Lange and Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs.
The U.S. ratified the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement on Jan. 23, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Jan. 23 (here). Froman gave WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo the U.S. “letter of acceptance” for the TFA while in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, USTR said. The U.S. commitment marks the final step in agreeing to enter the agreement into force. The U.S. is only the third country, out of 161 WTO members, to ratify the TFA, said USTR. Hong Kong and Singapore have also ratified the deal, and the U.S. is working with other countries to help ensure implementation, said USTR. The WTO will move ahead with implementation of the deal after two-thirds of members ratify it (see 1411280027). The National Foreign Trade Council praised the U.S. move in a statement (here). "We hope that other countries recognize the importance of this agreement as a way to modernize trade rules, and we call on them to follow suit and ratify TFA without delay,” said NFTC Vice President for Global Trade Issues Jake Colvin.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for public comments on bringing Iceland into negotiations on the World Trade Organization Environmental Goods Agreement (here). The Obama administration previously notified Congress that it is seeking consensus among EGA partners on including Iceland in the talks, USTR said. The U.S. formally launched the EGA talks in July 2014 alongside 12 other countries (see 14070811). The deal is expected to be based off an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation pact that is slashing duties on 54 "green" products (here). In December, USTR asked for input on Israeli and Turkish bids to be part of the agreement (see 1412150025). Comments are due by March 6, and USTR prefers comments are submitted through www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR–2015–0002.