The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for stakeholder comment on Indonesia’s challenge at the World Trade Organization to U.S. trade remedies on coated paper (here). Comments must be submitted by May 11, via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0005. Indonesia began consultations, the step before an adjudication panel, with the U.S. in March (see 1503130069).

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is poised to include the strongest environmental regulation in the history of global trade agreements, despite significant resistance from TPP partners, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a speech to the Outdoor Industry Association on April 15. The pact will crack down on illegal fishing, logging and other wildlife trafficking, and the U.S. will be able to sanction countries that fail to meet their environmental commitments, said Froman.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will meet with Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal in Mexico City on April 13, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. USTR didn't disclose any details of the meeting, but both the U.S. and Mexico are party to Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. On April 15, Froman will give remarks to a crowd of Outdoor Industry Association members in Washington, and Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will speak to the American Apparel and Footwear Association. Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler and chief agriculture negotiator Darci Vetter will on the same day meet with Japanese officials in Tokyo on bilateral market access issues in TPP. Froman will then on April 16 speak to a Bloomberg Conference in Washington.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asked for stakeholder comments on the South Korean challenge at the World Trade Organization to U.S. antidumping duties on oil country tubular goods (here). USTR criticized South Korea in March for moving ahead with a formal adjudication panel in the dispute, after consultations evidently failed to appease South Korean officials (see 1503130070). USTR is asking stakeholders to comment by May 1 on all aspects of the dispute and U.S. trade remedies. Commenters should make submissions via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0001.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative scheduled no public events for the week of April 6-10, the agency said in a release. The weeklong break follows an uptick in Trans-Pacific Partnership talks and expectations for completion of negotiations (see 1503110066).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released in recent days its annual National Trade Estimate, a review of U.S. trade ties and barriers on a country-by-country basis. The U.S. is continuing efforts to combat trade barriers, such as arbitrary testing, labeling and certifications, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and high, trade-inhibiting tariffs, said USTR in the NTE (here). The review also placed particular emphasis on corruption as a trade barrier, saying bribery and other forms of corruption impacts customs and licensing and has the potential to “negate market access gained through trade negotiations.”

Foreign governments continue to routinely use local content requirements for domestic telecommunications infrastructure, restricting engagement in trade and global supply chains, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a review of telecommunications provisions in free trade agreements and World Trade Organization pacts. The U.S. will continue to pressure removal of those barriers to put in place “market-oriented” commerce, said the agency in its annual review, released April 1 (here).

Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler will speak to the Japan Society of New York on bilateral negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership on March 30, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. The U.S. and Japan are still working on market access arrangements in TPP (see 1503230011). The next day, USTR Michael Froman will meet with a top Chilean trade official, and on April 1 USTR's chief agriculture negotiator Darci Vetter will speak on TPP to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for public comments on a U.S. challenge in February to Chinese export subsidies in textile, shrimp and other sectors (here). The U.S. asked for consultations with China in the case, and the U.S. hasn't yet requested a formal dispute panel (see 1502110022). Comments are due by April 15 via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0004.

Trans-Pacific Partnership investment provisions aim to hit back against expropriation and discriminatory treatment of foreign investment, but the investment chapter leaves the door open for challenges to government policies that violate investor “expectations,” according what's said to be text of the chapter released by WikiLeaks on March 25 (here). The chapter is dated Jan. 20, and marked “confidential.” The text focuses largely on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), the investor tribunal U.S. trade opponents, as well as some legal scholars, widely and aggressively criticize (see 1503120011).