The U.S. continues to pressure South Korea to dismantle non-tariff barriers on U.S. auto exports to the country under the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA), while pressing South Korean officials to reform customs provisions that currently require U.S. exporters to produce excessive, trade-inhibiting documentation, said Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Wendy Cutler during a conference call with reporters on March 13. USTR has invited U.S. customs officials to work with their South Korean counterparts to reshape the South Korean customs program designed to verify rules of origin, said Cutler.

The March 2012 amendments to the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement will take effect on April 5, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The amendments (here) apply to the following parties to the 1994 WTO Agreement on Government Procurement: the U.S., Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Israel, Lichtenstein, Norway, European Union, Iceland, and Singapore.

The U.S. and Japan failed to reach consensus on Trans-Pacific Partnership market access for agricultural products deemed sensitive by Japan during two days of talks between Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Wendy Cutler and Japanese deputy chief negotiator Hiroshi Oe, said USTR in a press release. Delegations from both sides will continue to meet through March 14, said USTR. "During the past two days, Acting Deputy USTR Cutler stressed the critical importance of securing meaningful market access for U.S. agricultural products, in line with the goal of pursuing a high-standard, comprehensive outcome that all TPP members -- including Japan -- agreed to when joining the negotiations," said a USTR spokesman in an email, declining to comment on tariff proposals. The Japanese negotiator floated lower tariffs than previous offers, but the U.S. insists on comprehensive elimination, according to Japanese media (here). “Opinions on both sides are still wide apart. You could say our goal is not yet in sight,” said Oe in footage posted on a Japanese media website.

The U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) is boosting U.S. agriculture exports, such as dairy, wine, beer, soybean oil, fruits and nuts, while improving South Korean intellectual property rights protections, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in a statement released days shy of the two year anniversary of the trade pact. Despite slow poor economic growth in South Korea, the U.S. is also exporting an increasing number of manufacturing products to South Korea, such as autos, said USTR.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman pressed Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Olusegun Aganga to improve U.S. market access in the country and embrace implementation of the World Trade Organization trade facilitation deal, during a U.S.-Nigeria Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meeting on March 11, the USTR said in a release. U.S. exports to Nigeria, valued at $6.5 billion in 2013, include mineral fuels, vehicles, wheat, machinery, and plastics, according to USTR. Excluding oil, major Nigerian exports to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) include leather, prepared vegetables, beans, cocoa paste, spices, and cassava. Froman and Aganga also discussed intellectual property right protection in Nigeria and improved AGOA utilization, said USTR.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) determined Ukraine is a significant violator of intellectual property rights (IPR) protections in a Section 301 review, but will disregard the infringement at this time in light of the ongoing political transition in the country, said USTR. Under Section 301, USTR can retaliate against countries it classifies as IPR violators. In May 2013, USTR determined the Ukrainian government used infringing software and the country hosted infringement of copyright and related rights.

U.S. negotiators continue to prioritize the elimination of tariffs on textiles and apparel and wide-ranging agricultural products in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) as the U.S. delegation convenes with European Union (EU) counterparts for the fourth round of TTIP negotiations currently underway in Brussels, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a March 11 release. But the summit will largely focus on rules of origin, intellectual property, labor, regulatory sectors and services, said USTR in a previous statement (here).

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman is scheduled to meet with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo, and later Vietnamese Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung, in closed sessions on March 10, the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule release. US Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke will meet with European Commission Director General for Trade Jean-Luc Demarty in a closed session in Brussels on March 10, as well. Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will also participate in two days of confidential meetings with Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Hiroshi Oe regarding TPP market access issues, along with other USTR events planned for this week.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for public comment on the U.S. dispute at the World Trade Organization over Chinese antidumping duties on grain oriented flat-rolled electrical steel. The U.S. initiated consultations to resolve the dispute with China in January (see 14011330). The U.S. then requested the establishment of a WTO dispute panel on Feb. 26, indicating the U.S. does not consider Chinese concessions acceptable (see 14022710). Comments should be submitted electronically via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2014-0006.

The Guatemalan government is strengthening labor domestic protection through increasing workplace inspectors and passing legislation that ensure police assistance for inspector access and verify employer compliance with labor law, but the reforms remain insufficient, said the Office of the Trade Representative in a March 6 release. The U.S. suspended a labor dispute with Guatemala, initiated through the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement dispute mechanism, after the two countries signed a deal in April 2013 that mandated specific Guatemalan labor protection enforcement. The U.S. may choose to renew the dispute proceeding if U.S. concerns are not sufficiently addressed by April 25, said USTR.