Some NAFTA negotiating teams started meetings in Mexico City for the fifth round of the pact’s negotiations on Nov. 15, with talks to formally begin Nov. 17, according to a trilateral statement highlighting the round. Almost 30 negotiating groups will meet during the round, set to conclude Nov. 21. After NAFTA ministers held “substantive discussions” during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, last week, the ministers agreed not to attend the fifth round, “so negotiators can continue to make important progress on key chapters advanced in Round 4,” the statement says. “Chief Negotiators from Mexico, United States and Canada will be in constant communication with their respective Ministers and will report on the progress reached in this round.” Round 4 in Washington saw some of the most contentious U.S. proposals being proposed, including a 50 percent U.S. content requirement for automobiles (see 1710170056).
A group of 11 products appear set to exceed competitive need limitations (CNLs) for calendar year 2017 and lose their eligibility for duty-free access under the Generalized System of Preferences, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. Products that may exceed CNL waivers in 2017 include the following:
While companies claim that they need trade policy certainty to be competitive, “what they’re really saying is, ‘We need the certainty so that we can invest in Mexico,’” and to generally outsource, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Nov. 3 in a Fox News interview. “My reaction to that is, that’s not my job. My job is trying to create manufacturing jobs in America, and to put upward pressure on people’s wages.” Guaranteeing or “subsidizing” investments in other markets “makes no sense,” he added. Lighthizer criticized investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in free trade agreements last month, particularly in the NAFTA context, charging that it isn’t a free-market process (see 1710180024).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will accept applications for individuals to serve on binational NAFTA panels to review final determinations on antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings and amendments to a NAFTA party’s AD/CVD provisions, the agency said. USTR is inviting applications through Nov. 17 from people who want to be on the binational panel roster from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019. Binational panels decide whether AD/CV determinations align with domestic laws of the importing NAFTA party using the standard of review that would have been applied by a domestic court of the importing party. A panel can either uphold the determination or remand it to national administering authorities for action “not inconsistent” with the panel’s decision. NAFTA dictates a 75-person roster, with each NAFTA party selecting at least 25 individuals.
The U.S. seeks to reduce its $29.6 billion goods trade deficit with India and to identify and address trade barriers bearing on intellectual property rights, and on goods including manufactured and agricultural products, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said after conclusion of the annual U.S.-India Bilateral Trade Policy Forum on Oct. 27. “I am confident that with continued work, we will be able to accomplish these goals,” Lighthizer said in a statement. The U.S. pressed for strong outcomes in areas including non-science-based agricultural trade barriers, “continuing and new regulatory and technical barriers” impacting sales of “U.S. high technology and other products,” tariffs in several agricultural and industrial sectors, and protection and enforcement of IPR, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. While “both sides had differing views that could not be resolved immediately,” the two sides agreed it is “critical” to continue strong engagement through “the coming months” to achieve concrete outcomes before the next forum in 2018, USTR said.
The Trump administration will accept public input on forthcoming recommendations from the International Trade Commission for potential trade remedies that might be imposed after the ITC reached an affirmative injury determination in its Section 201 safeguard investigation on crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The ITC is expected to send its final report by Nov. 13. President Donald Trump will then have about two months to adopt or reject the ITC’s recommendations, or opt to set other trade restrictions. USTR will accept written comments through Nov. 20, and written responses to the initial round of comments through Nov. 29, including from domestic producers, importers, exporters or other interested parties, USTR said. Further, the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will hold a public hearing on the matter on Dec. 6.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will have a “heightened focus” on finishing ongoing Generalized System of Preferences reviews and the Trump administration will start a three-year process to assess each GSP beneficiary country’s compliance with statutory eligibility criteria, USTR announced. The new effort to ensure beneficiary countries meet GSP eligibility benchmarks will complement the current USTR petition-receipt-and-public-comment process for country practice reviews, "which will remain unchanged," USTR said. The first assessment will examine Asian GSP beneficiary countries, and the administration will review GSP beneficiary countries in other parts of the world during the second and third years, USTR said. The review of Asian beneficiary countries will include India, a USTR spokeswoman said in an email. Trade associations recently petitioned for India's removal from GSP, citing unfair restrictions on U.S. dairy and medical device exports (see 1710190022). Any GSP compliance issues could result in a self-initiated executive branch “full country practice review” of the nation’s continued eligibility for the program, USTR said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Oct. 19 directed CBP to block timber imports from Peruvian timber exporter Inversiones Oroza after illegally harvested timber was found in its supply chain, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. Last year, the U.S. Interagency Committee on Trade in Timber Products from Peru (Timber Committee), formed under the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Forest Sector Governance Annex, requested that Peru verify that a specific timber shipment from that company complied with all applicable Peruvian laws and regulations. Peru’s verification process found that “significant portions” of the shipment weren’t compliant with Peruvian law, regulations and other measures on harvest and trade in timber products, USTR said. Specifically, the Timber Committee directed that CBP deny entry to Oroza shipments for three years or until the committee determines the company has complied with all relevant laws, regulations and other applicable measures, USTR said.
U.S., Canadian and Mexican officials will meet for two days longer than originally scheduled for the fourth round of NAFTA renegotiations in Arlington, Virginia, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. The round will take place Oct. 11-17 “to allow additional time for negotiations,” USTR said. Since the third renegotiation round held Sept. 23-27, parties to the pact have finished an updated competition chapter, delivering on a trilateral expectation stated at the conclusion of the third round (see 1709280030). The new competition chapter “substantially updates” the original one and “goes beyond anything the United States has done in previous free trade agreements,” USTR said, as the three countries agreed to obligations for “increased procedural fairness” in competition law enforcement. Officials believe the chapter will help ensure certain rights and transparency under each nation’s competition laws.
Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said Oct. 5 there’s a 50 percent or greater chance that President Donald Trump pulls out of NAFTA within a year or so. Congress should “assert its constitutional power” and delay “self-defeating actions” the U.S. could pursue to make the agreement more protectionist or to withdraw, said Zoellick, who is now non-executive chairman of AllianceBernstein and senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. “This is a message for the business community, the farm community, everybody that cares about this relationship,” Zoellick said during an event at the Atlantic Council. “You have to press” Congress.