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 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.
President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to continue "cooperation on a range of regional and global issues" after speaking on Jan. 25, but in a joint statement the two leaders didn't specify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (here). Despite months of intense negotiations, the U.S. and Japan have not yet come forward with a compromise on bilateral agricultural market access and auto trade negotiations under TPP. Some analysts say the two sides have made substantial progress, and a deal on agricultural is within reach (see 1501040001). A U.S. Trade Representative official is scheduled to speak this week with a Japanese chief negotiator on auto issues.
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.
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 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 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asked for comments on the U.S.-Guatemala labor dispute settlement under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (here). The U.S. resumed litigation in the dispute in September 2014, after agreeing to a bilateral Labor Action Plan the year before (see 14091902). Guatemala is falling short of CAFTA-mandated labor protections, notably freedom of association and worker’s conditions, in the shipping, apparel, steel and agriculture sectors, said an Obama administration legal briefing in November (see 1411050013). The briefing cites more than 400 total labor violations. Comments are due by Feb. 20, and USTR prefers comments are submitted through www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2014-0023.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for comments on a recently-announced South Korean challenge at the World Trade Organization to U.S. antidumping duties on oil country tubular goods from the country (here). South Korea asked for consultations with the U.S. over the AD duties in December (see 1412220068). WTO requests for consultation are the first action in a dispute proceeding, but if the two sides agree on a resolution, South Korea may opt to not ask for dispute settlement. The Commerce Department issued an AD order on South Korean OCTG in September (see 14090919), after finding South Korean exporters are dumping into the U.S. market (see 14071712). Comments must be submitted by Feb. 18, and USTR prefers they are submitted through www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0001.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman launched another busy week for his office on Jan. 18 by meeting in Washington with Chilean Minister of Trade Andres Rebolledo, and then traveling to Mexico City to meet with Mexican Minister of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo, the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule update (here). Both countries are party to Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. On Jan. 21, Froman will speak at the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Trade Promotion Authority and the need to boost exports. Following that, he’ll travel to Davos, Switzerland to a World Economic Forum annual meeting. Deputy Assistant USTR for Small Business Christina Sevilla will also speak at town hall meetings in Alabama on small and medium-sized business opportunities in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership from Jan. 21-22.
The Obama administration again faulted Bangladesh for insufficient reforms to infrastructure and labor conditions in the country and rejected its bid to rejoin the group of Generalized System of Preferences beneficiaries. Still, Bangladesh is continuously making progress in improving those conditions, said an interagency review led by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. GSP expired in June 2013, but many lawmakers and industry representatives are jockeying to advance a renewal bill in the first months of this Congress (see 1501130001).