Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Wendy Cutler will meet with senior Japanese negotiator Takeo Mori from June 9-10 to discuss automobile trade barriers in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. Cutler on June 10 will then deliver a keynote speech to a conference jointly hosted by Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Japan External Trade Organization. The speech will focus on economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region, said USTR in the release.

The Obama administration hopes to include expedited procedures for express shipments, advance customs rulings, quick release mechanisms and transparent customs regulations in a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a memo on TPP objectives made public on June 2. The U.S. also aims to strengthen customs cooperation with TPP partners to prevent illegal transshipment and duty evasion, said USTR, adding that strong rules of origin will be critical for the growth of TPP countries, including the U.S.

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) John Melle will head a delegation to Santiago, Chile and Lima, Peru from June 2-5 to conduct meetings of committees established under the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement and the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, according to the USTR's weekly schedule. USTR Michael Froman will then meet with the new Chilean Ambassador to the U.S., Juan Gabriel Valdes, on June 6. Assistant USTR for Environment and Natural Resources Jennifer Prescott and Assistant USTR for Trade Policy & Economics Doug Bell will also chair on June 5 a public hearing on the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA).

The Obama administration should consider taking a “two-by-four” to Congress in order to power through Trade Promotion Authority, said former U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) William Brock at a National Foreign Trade Council event on May 28. The Office of the USTR likely will not float sensitive concessions to trade partners if any “nickel and dime” amendment could alter the agreement and derail implementation. “Our trade negotiators are going to be better at getting a good deal if they have a full deck,” said Brock. “You don’t have a full deck if you don’t have the authority to bring an agreement to Congress [that can be voted on] up or down without amendment.”

U.S. and Panamanian trade officials are beginning an update of the U.S.-Panama FTA rules of origin to reflect changes to the Harmonized System (HS) of tariff nomenclature, said a joint statement by both sides following the first meeting of the U.S. - Panama Free Trade Commission on May 28. Panamanian officials hosted the summit in Panama City. “We recognized the importance of this project in easing customs administration for our customs authorities, producers, and exporters and instructed our technical teams to conclude this update for our signature,” said the statement. The officials also during the summit adopted changes to the dispute settlement mechanism in the agreement, the statement said.

The U.S. is concerned that the Ghanaian adoption of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) tariff model will ramp up tariffs on seven World Trade Organization (WTO) tariff categories, said WTO Attaché Neil Beck on May 26 at the WTO Trade Policy Review of Ghana. The country’s accession into the ECOWAS model should instead enable Ghana to lower tariffs, according to Beck.

Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Wendy Cutler will launch two days of talks on May 29 in Washington D.C. with chief Japanese negotiator Hiroshi Oe on Trans-Pacific Partnership agriculture market access, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. Among other events, Assistant USTR for the Western Hemisphere John Melle and Deputy Assistant USTR for Central America and the Dominican Republic Leslie O’Connor will also travel to Panama on May 28 to attend the first meeting of the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Free Trade Commission, USTR said.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled on May 23 the Chinese Ministry of Commerce erred in its assessment of antidumping and countervailing duty rates for U.S. car and sport-utility vehicle imports. The rates violate multiple international agreements, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body decided. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the rates reached 21.5 percent in 2013 and impacted roughly $5.1 billion worth of U.S. auto exports. “This is the third time that the United States has prevailed in a WTO dispute challenging China’s unjustified use of trade remedies. Each time, a WTO panel of experts has made clear that China had no basis whatsoever for imposing duties on American goods,” said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a May 23 press release. “USTR will keep pressing for China to change its trade remedies practices that unfairly restrict U.S. exports.”

The recent cancellation of a partially open to the public Industry Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC) on Small and Minority Business sheds light on the infrequency of ITAC meetings over the past decade, according to infojustice.org, citing the Congressional Research Service (CRS). According to infojustice.org, a blog run the American University Law School, an unspecified congressional office recently requested a compilation of the partially open meetings over that time period. The CRS compilation shows the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has permitted only 13 partially open ITAC meetings since 2004, and the Small and Minority Business ITAC hosted all but one of those meetings, the blog said.

The U.S. and other Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) participant nations failed to close gaps during multilateral negotiations at the two-day ministerial in Singapore, Malaysia, according to a joint statement. The summit concluded on May 20. The ministers are instructing chief negotiators to meet at some point in July, indicating the participant nations do not aim to conclude negotiations prior to that summit.