U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk's door is open to academics skeptical of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations among the U.S. and other countries, Kirk wrote in response to a group of law professors who had complained specifically about poor transparency in intellectual-property chapter negotiations in Dallas in May. Kirk's letter, dated May 30, was made public by the IP program at American University's law school. Kirk told the academics the Obama administration invites participation from stakeholders "far beyond the 'cleared advisers'" who serve in its advisory committee system, and his office "would welcome the opportunity to sit down with you and your colleagues" to discuss TPP negotiation, just as negotiators "spoke directly" to more than 300 individuals and 45 organizations that attended the Dallas stakeholder event. The academics had criticized the shift from "full day open forums" for stakeholders to make presentations to negotiators, to a "4-hour mid-day ... exhibit hall for stakeholder tables."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on its May 11 request for a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organization with the government of India about measures imposed by India on the import of agricultural products from the U.S., purportedly because of concerns about avian influenza (see ITT's Online Archives 12051405). Comments should be submitted by July 5, it said, to www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2012-0004. Further information: Mayur Patel, 202-395-3150.

The International Sugar Trade Coalition (ISTC) urged the U.S. to maintain its policy against reopening terms of access established in existing bilateral free trade agreements, and therefore to not provide additional access to Australian sugar, in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. The ISTC, which represents sugar industries in developing countries that traditionally supply the U.S. market with sugar, sent the letter in response to arguments to increase Australia’s access to the U.S. market in an earlier letter by U.S. business associations to the USTR.

The Secretary of Labor and the U.S. Trade Representative said they plan to renew the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy. The committee consults with and makes recommendations on general policy matters concerning labor and trade negotiations, operations of any trade agreement once entered into, and other matters arising in connection with the administration of U.S. trade policy, they said in a Federal Register notice to be published May 25. The committee will have up to 30 members representing the labor community, and will meet at irregular intervals at the call of the Secretary of Labor and USTR. Further information: Anne Zollner, 202-693-4890.

Teams of American and European negotiators are working to examine a wide range of possibilities to boost U.S.-EU trade, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a speech May 22 to the London School of Economics. He said they include: eliminating conventional barriers to trade in goods, such as tariffs and tariff-rate quotas; reducing barriers to trade in services, and to transatlantic investment; promoting regulatory approaches that facilitate trade; reducing, eliminating, or preventing in the first place behind-the-border barriers to trade in all categories; and developing rules and principles on other global issues that are of common concern. "We have agreed to be both ambitious and realistic as we establish our negotiating parameters and goals," Kirk said.

There was better-than-expected progress on the latest round of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. The 12th-round meeting of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam concluded May 16 in Dallas. Negotiators said the round further narrowed differences in the text and the teams can now see a clear path forward toward conclusion of most of the more than 20 chapters of the agreement, the USTR office said, as a handful of TPP negotiating groups continue to meet in Texas for the remainder of the week.

Bradford Ward has been appointed Director of the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC) by the U.S. Trade Representative. ITEC is expected to be fully operational, with 50 to 60 staff, by the end of next year, said Commerce Secretary Bryson in remarks to the Steel Manufacturers Association Conference on May 15. Additionally, Bryson appointed Constance Hadley as Deputy Director of ITEC.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on India's April 24 request for consultations with the U.S. under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization on countervailing measures for hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for publication May 4.

The office of U.S. Trade Representative released its annual 2012 Special 301 review process based on compliance with intellectual property rights, and IPR enforcement in 77 trading partners. The Special 301 Report provides a means for the United States to promote the protection and enforcement of IPR. For companies on the list, the U.S. Government could initiate dispute settlement proceedings at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or other trade bodies, or eliminate tariff preferences.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative provided notice of the country-by-country allocations of the additional Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for imported raw cane sugar and of the country-by-country reallocations of the FY 2012 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quota for imported raw cane sugar; both are effective April 26, 2012.