U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Malaysian Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed met in Washington on Sept. 11, and directed their staffs to ramp up cooperation on intellectual property, agriculture, “goods,” labor and the environment under the countries’ Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. Lighthizer and Mohamed will “stay in close touch” over the next months to evaluate progress in resolving “outstanding issues” and engage on ways to enhance economic ties and promote “more balanced trade” between the U.S. and Malaysia, USTR said. The agency also pointed to the $24.8 billion goods trade deficit the U.S. had with Malaysia in 2016, and to the fact that the Malaysia was the U.S.'s 18th largest goods trading partner last year, with $48.5 billion in bilateral goods trade.
South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Ahn Ho-young on Sept. 11 said U.S. exports to his country have increased significantly since the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2012, days after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said U.S. exports to South Korea have “arguably gone down” slightly. Trade tensions between the two nations have recently intensified, after President Donald Trump earlier this month indicated to White House reporters, and media outlets reported it, that he was considering canceling the deal (see 1709050033). U.S. and South Korean officials have continued engagement on KORUS since an Aug. 22 joint meeting failed to resolve U.S. concerns about the deal (see 1708220013), Ahn said during a Washington International Trade Association event. After the joint meeting, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer cited the U.S. trade deficit with the nation, South Korea’s approach to intellectual property, and South Korean regulations seen by the Trump administration as protectionist (see 1708220013).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is correcting the date of its hearing on Russia’s implementation of its World Trade Organization commitments to Oct. 10, USTR said. In an Aug. 4 Federal Register notice, the agency originally said the hearing to gather information for its 2017 report would take place on Sept. 28 (see 1708030001). Comments are still due on Sept. 22, USTR said. The 2016 report criticized Russia for opaque customs regulations for import valuation, tedious import licensing requirements and troublesome rules for imports of alcoholic products, among other things (see 1612220050). Russia imposed a ban in 2014 on some U.S. agricultural products after the Obama administration and allies sanctioned Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine conflict (see 14082620).
The heads of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers in an Aug. 23 letter urged several senior members of the Trump administration to work to preserve investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in a renegotiated NAFTA, adding that business support for an updated deal could falter if talks serve to weaken or nix the dispute mechanism. Sent to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, the letter says ISDS doesn’t infringe U.S. sovereignty, and ensures that other countries don’t seize U.S. investors’ property without compensation and don’t impose forced localization requirements compelling jobs to be “shipped overseas.” The letter follows another letter from more than 100 trade groups sent to the administration earlier this month urging continuance of ISDS in NAFTA (see 1708090014).
The Trump administration should terminate Mauritania’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) benefits, as the country hasn’t established rights to organize and collectively bargain, and continues to harass people who campaign to end slavery in the country, AFL-CIO trade policy specialist Celeste Drake told the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee’s AGOA Implementation Subcommittee on Aug. 23. According to prepared remarks for a hearing to inform the executive branch’s review of AGOA benefits for fiscal year 2018, where Drake was the only testifying witness, she said the International Labor Organization and constituent groups have unsuccessfully tried to work with the Mauritanian government to address the situation in recent years.
U.S. and South Korean officials failed to reach agreement on how to move forward with the countries’ free trade agreement during a meeting Aug. 22, Reuters reported, after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in July said the U.S. wants to resolve several market access issues facing U.S. exports (see 1708180017). Discussions during the meeting revealed “different views on the free trade agreement” and lack of concurrence on a path forward between the two countries, according to Reuters. South Korea also asserted the U.S. trade deficit with the country, which totaled $27.6 billion in goods in 2016, hasn’t been the result of the trade deal, and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong proposed a joint study on the “effects” of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, according to the Reuters story.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Aug. 18 initiated an investigation into China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, to determine whether acts, policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation are “unreasonable or discriminatory” and “burden or restrict” U.S. commerce, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. Per statute, the investigation must be completed within one year of initiation. Section 301 gives the president broad authority, including import duties, to retaliate against restrictions found to “burden or restrict” U.S. commerce. President Donald Trump on Aug. 14 issued a memorandum directing Lighthizer to determine whether to launch the investigation (see 1708150027). “After consulting with stakeholders and other government agencies, I have determined that these critical issues merit a thorough investigation,” Lighthizer said in a statement.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is adding Togo to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) list of countries eligible to import textiles and apparel under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), USTR said. Effective Aug. 22, USTR is adding Togo to HTS Chapter 98, Subchapter II, U.S. note 7(a), and to Subchapter XIX, U.S. notes 1 and 2(d), which will make it possible for textile and apparel imports from that country to receive AGOA benefits. The modifications will apply to articles entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on Aug. 22 and beyond. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced the U.S. was granting Togo a textile and apparel visa authorizing AGOA benefits earlier this month (see 1708090010).
The “scope and volume” of textual proposals during the first round of NAFTA renegotiations indicate that all three member countries are committed to an “ambitious outcome,” as negotiating groups started working to advance text and agreed to provide additional text, comments or alternate proposals during the next two weeks, the NAFTA countries said in an Aug. 20 joint statement. Mexico will host the second round Sept. 1-5, and negotiators will continue domestic consultations and work to advance text through August, the joint statement says. “Negotiations will continue at this rapid pace, moving to Canada in late September and returning to the United States in October, with additional rounds being planned for the remainder of the year,” the statement reads. “While a great deal of effort and negotiation will be required in the coming months, Canada, Mexico and the United States are committed to an accelerated and comprehensive negotiation process that will upgrade our agreement and establish 21st century standards to the benefit of our citizens.”
The U.S. and Colombia reached an agreement for the South American nation to accept more exports of U.S. paddy rice, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Aug. 17. The agreement lifts “costly and unnecessary fumigation and processing requirements” set in a 2012 deal that enabled U.S. exports of paddy rice to Colombia, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. The updated agreement also expands access beyond the single Colombian port of Barranquilla. USTR noted Colombia has moved from the 26th to 12th largest importer of U.S. food and agricultural products between 2011 and 2016, after the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement entered into force in 2012, as exports totaled more than $2.4 billion in 2016. U.S. paddy rice exports to Colombia totaled $15 million last year.