New U.S.-Morocco agreements signed last week will stimulate significant additional commercial activity between the two countries and within the broader Middle East/North Africa region, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative said. They include a trade facilitation agreement to set a new standard for transparency and predictability in customs matters that USTR said will make it easier for companies to bring products into both markets. It includes new commitments reflecting innovations and practices developed since the free trade agreement was signed in 2004, such as allowing the submission of information before goods arrive, and the electronic payment of duties, taxes, and fees to facilitate the prompt release of goods. The U.S. and Morocco also agreed on Joint Principles for International Investment, including strong protection for foreign investment, and the right to compensation in the event of a direct or indirect expropriation. They also endorsed Joint Principles for Information and Communication Technology Services. USTR said the agreement will support the global development of ICT services, including Internet and other network-based applications that are critical to innovative e-commerce.

The U.S. and Morocco are concluding "three new initiatives to help further boost our trade and investment relationship," said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro in a Dec. 4 speech at the U.S. Morocco Business Development Conference. The initiatives were to be finalized this week. Sapiro said the initiatives are part of the U.S.'s Middle East/North Africa Trade and Investment Partnership.

The U.S. has asked the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel on Argentina's trade restrictive measures applied to all U.S. goods imported into Argentina, said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. He said the restrictive measures include the broad use of non-transparent and discretionary import licensing requirements that unfairly restrict U.S. exports.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it received no new petitions in September 2012 to review practices in any beneficiary developing country related to Andean Trade Preference Act eligibility criteria.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative wants input on the operation, effectiveness and implementation of, and compliance with, the following agreements regarding telecommunications products and services of the U.S.: The World Trade Organization General Agreement on Trade in Services; North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); U.S. free trade agreements with Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Korea, Morocco, Oman, Panama, Peru and Singapore; Dominican Republic-Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA); and any other telecom trade agreements, such as mutual recognition agreements for conformity assessment of telecommunications equipment.

The inaugural meeting of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Commission (FTC), held Nov. 19, concluded that the six-month-old Free Trade Agreement is working well and is already benefiting both countries, the U.S. Trade Representative said. U.S. exports to Colombia from May to Sept. were up more than 20 percent over the corresponding period last year, it said. The governments decided to consider tariff acceleration and to set time frames for establishing dispute settlement mechanisms and updating rules of origin. They also reviewed the work of committees set up to discuss technical barriers to trade, agriculture, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

Trade negotiations have to adjust as Internet-enabled communication technologies develop, said Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce Policy Jonathan McHale Monday. Speaking at an event hosted by the Federal Communications Bar Association, McHale said the USTR is beginning to approach trade negotiations through the lens of emerging technology and is considering restarting World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations with the same perspective.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said import statistics are available for the first eight months of 2012 relating to competitive need limitations (CNLs) under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. The statistics identify some articles for which the 2012 trade levels may exceed statutory CNLs, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for Nov. 6. USTR said parties may want to use the information in deciding whether to submit a petition to waive the CNLs for individual beneficiary developing countries (BDCs) with respect to specific GSP-eligible articles. The deadline for submitting product petitions to waive the CNLs for individual BDCs with respect to GSP-eligible articles is 5 p.m., Nov. 21. The interim import statistics for the first eight months of 2012 relating to CNLs are (here). Full calendar-year 2012 data for individual tariff subheadings will be available in February 2013 at http://dataweb.usitc.gov/. USTR said the following products met the criteria to be placed on the list:

Soybean farmers have a vested interest in seeing barriers to transatlantic trade reduced, the American Soybean Association said in comments to the U.S. Trade Representative. Barriers, such as the European Union’s discriminatory biotech labeling requirements and renewable energy standards, have had a significantly negative impact on soybean exports to the EU in recent years, with a 44 percent decline in the value of EU-bound exports between 1998 and 2011, and a 70 percent drop in export volume during the same period, the ASA said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on its annual Reports on Sanitary and Phytosanitary and Technical Barriers to Trade. It said the comments are to assist it in identifying significant sanitary and phytosanitary and standards-related barriers to U.S. exports of goods, for inclusion in these two reports.