Stakeholders that wish to speak to officials in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Department about their negotiating priorities for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework must email IPEF@ustr.eop.gov by Dec. 2 if they wish to speak in Brisbane, Australia, on Dec. 13, and by Dec. 5 if they want to speak Dec. 6 in Washington. Email subject lines should say "USTR/Department of Commerce Listening Session" for the domestic event and "Brisbane Stakeholder Event" to get an opportunity to speak on the sidelines of the negotiating round. The Dec. 6 event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; the Brisbane event, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. local time.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who will be meeting later this week with French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, released a readout of a video call the two had, in which she and her counterpart ''discussed France’s concerns over certain provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. Ambassador Tai and Minister Le Maire agreed that the U.S. and European Union should work together to deepen the bilateral understanding of the legislation, which makes historic investments in green technology and clean energy in order to fight the climate crisis."

In a series of meetings on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai defended the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as talked about how implementation of it could be shaped. She pitched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as a way to address "current challenges" and realize new economic opportunities. And Tai talked about trade with China, both directly with her Chinese counterpart, and with Japan, where, the readout of her meeting with the Japanese trade minister said, Japan is prioritizing "tackling shared challenges posed by non-market economic policies and practices," which is another way of saying responding to Chinese overcapacity and subsidies.

Australia will host the first in-person negotiating round for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in Brisbane, starting Dec. 10. "This will be an important opportunity to identify areas of consensus and continue developing the four IPEF pillars," Office of the U.S. Trade Representative spokesman Adam Hodge said. The round is scheduled to last through Dec. 15.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the U.S. and Taiwan had two days of productive meetings this week, exchanging views on what needs to be addressed in trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, anticorruption, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture, standards, digital trade, labor, environment, state-owned enterprises, and non-market policies and practices.

The U.S. and Ukraine will negotiate to update the United States-Ukraine Trade and Investment Cooperation Agreement, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said after meeting Nov. 9 with Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Economy Yuliia Svyrydenko.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, speaking with Mexico’s new economy secretary, told her it's important that the two countries promptly make progress in consultations around U.S. complaints on Mexican energy sector polices. Tai also said it's important that Mexico return to a science- and risk-based regulatory approval process for all agricultural products that use biotechnology, such as genetically modified corn. Mexico is planning to ban GMO corn, which would cut off a volume of U.S. exports -- and Tai said it's important to avoid such a disruption.

The U.S. and Taiwan will hold in-person "conceptual discussions" on the U.S.-Taiwan trade initiative in New York Nov. 8-9. The trade initiative (see 2208180042) is similar to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, in which Taiwan isn't a participant.

There's a consensus on the need for reform at the World Trade Organization, according to Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for WTO and Multilateral Affairs Andrea Durkin, but since member countries have different ideas about what reform is, and different ideas about how to achieve it, it will be a "significant challenge" to make changes in Geneva.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will not open a portal for comments about the economic impact of Section 301 tariffs until Nov. 15 (see 2210120051), but it has now posted the questionnaire, which has a dozen pages of questions, and will allow commenters to target specific Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes.