The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will participate in a series of closed-door meetings in Washington over the course of the coming week, said the agency in its weekly schedule. Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will speak to the Washington Council on International Trade on May 12, and chief USTR agriculture negotiator Darci Vetter will deliver closed-door remarks to the Washington Agriculture Roundtable. Holleyman will then participate in a White House briefing to small business on May 13. Later in the day, Holleyman will attend the American Business Conference’s Spring Meeting.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative struck a deal with Armenia to seal a bilateral trade and investment framework pact, the agency said on May 7. The pact creates a U.S.-Armenia Council on Trade and Investment, which will provide a forum to strengthen trade ties, said USTR. The U.S. only imported $96 million in Armenia goods in 2014, the agency said. Notable imports include aluminum, woven apparel, brandy, diamonds, and processed fruit and vegetables.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for stakeholder comments on the admission of Mauritius in negotiations on the Trade in Services Agreement, a plurilateral pact brokered under the World Trade Organization (here). TISA negotiating partners accepted Mauritius into the talks in April, USTR said. Stakeholders may comment until June 8. The agency prefers stakeholders submit comments via http://www.regulations.gov, with docket number USTR–2015–0006.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 4-8 for a ministerial round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, said the Office of the USTR in its weekly schedule. That summit follows committee approval in the House and Senate of Trade Promotion Authority, which supporters have said for months is necessary for TPP partners to float their best proposals (see 1504270008). Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also vowed to work with the U.S. to close TPP talks in an April 29 speech before Congress (see 1504290027). Prior to departing for Kuala Lumpur, Froman and U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization, Michael Punke, will meet on May 4 with European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom in Washington. Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will then on May 7 speak to the Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America Innovation Summit, which will also be held in Washington.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative called out a range of countries for intellectual property rights violations on April 30 in its Special 301 Report . China and India were named to USTR’s Priority Watch List, the group of countries that host the largest-scale IP infringement. The 2014 Special 301 Report established an out-of-cycle review for India, and the agency later declined to label India a Priority Foreign Country, the most severe USTR classification for IP violations (see 1410140100).

The U.S. and China have not yet began negotiations over sectoral exclusions in Bilateral Investment Treaty talks, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told the Chamber of Commerce on April 28 (here). Both sides have repeatedly indicated they plan to exchange the exclusions, called the “negative list,” in the beginning of 2015 (see 1503100076). “This will be the most challenging BIT negotiation that either country has ever undertaken,” said Froman in the remarks. “We’ve had very good dialogue with China over the last year on the [BIT] and actually made quite good workmanlike progress on the basis of the text, and it’s very clear that from President Xi [Jinping] on down, the Chinese leadership and ministries are taking this very seriously, and we welcome that kind of engagement in the negotiations.”

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will speak to a Chamber of Commerce event on China on April 27, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule (here). Froman will then attend Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech to a joint session of Congress on April 29. The U.S. and Japan are striving to close the gaps in their bilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will on the same day deliver remarks to a group of small business owners at the White House. Holleyman will then participate on May 1 in an event sponsored by the New Democrat Network. Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., will also attend. Kind was one of two Democrats to vote in favor of Trade Promotion Authority at the Ways and Means Committee markup on April 22.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership has the potential to slash “red tape” and bureaucratic hurdles in U.S.-European trade, said the top American TTIP negotiator, Dan Mullaney, in April 27 remarks that capped off a week of TTIP talks in New York City (here). “We made important progress this week in a number of key areas of the negotiations,” said Mullaney. “We had very productive engagement on some of the key regulatory areas. With respect to technical barriers to trade, we discussed ways in which we can reduce regulatory costs and burdens while continuing to achieve our respective high levels of consumer and environmental protection.” Mullaney hinted at mutual recognition of regulatory functions in a final TTIP agreement. A key European business leader recently voiced support for that mutual recognition, instead of full regulatory harmonization (see 1503240062). Chief European negotiator for TTIP, Ignacio Garcia-Bercero, echoed those calls for improved facilitation and regulatory cooperation.

The U.S. has made more progress to close the U.S.-Japanese negotiating gaps in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, but "continued work is needed to ultimately resolve the outstanding issues," said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman following two days of meetings with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo. The progress "will contribute important momentum to the broader TPP talks," said Froman, in a statement released by his office. Froman met with Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman traveled to Tokyo on April 18 to discuss Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. USTR didn’t comment on the length of Froman’s stay, but the visit comes at a critical time in U.S.-Japanese bilateral talks under TPP. Lawmakers in recent days introduced Trade Promotion Authority, the legislation trade experts say may provide the impetus to conclude TPP talks. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also scheduled to visit Washington from April 28-29, during which he’ll both meet with President Barack Obama and speak to Congress (see 1503280002). Froman will then speak to the American Association of Port Authorities in Washington on April 21, and then he’ll deliver remarks to the Atlantic Economy Summit on April 23. Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will on the same day participate in an event alongside New Democrat Coalition Chair Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis. That coalition is expected to deliver some Democratic votes on TPA, although the number of votes is currently unclear. The U.S. is also hosting the 9th round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations from April 20-24 (here), and USTR is planning a number of events affiliated with that.