The second special session of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement joint committee will take place Oct. 4 in Washington, about a month and a half after the first session, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. The U.S. wants both countries to consider possible amendments and modifications to the agreement to resolve issues related to the U.S.’s bilateral trade deficit, as well as Korean market access for U.S. exports.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments to inform how the agency should identify Colombia based on its intellectual property protection and enforcement, as USTR undertakes a "Special 301" out-of-cycle review of Colombia's IP practices, USTR said. The review will include an evaluation of Colombia's commitment to the IP provisions of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and Colombia's implementation of its National Development Plan, USTR said. The agency put Colombia on the Special 301 watch list in its 2017 Special 301 report released in April. USTR will accept comments from foreign governments through Oct. 27, and from everyone else through Oct. 20.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments to inform whether and how the agency should identify Thailand based on its intellectual property protection regime or market access it provides to U.S. persons who rely on IP protection, USTR said. USTR on Sept. 15 announced it was starting an out-of-cycle review of Thailand’s “Special 301” status because of positive steps the country has taken on IP (see 1709180005). The agency put Thailand on the Special 301 priority watch list in its 2017 Special 301 report released in April. USTR will accept comments from foreign governments through Oct. 27, and from everyone else through Oct. 20. Thailand requested the review “in light of its efforts to achieve substantial progress” in its IP regime, USTR said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is starting an out-of-cycle review of Thailand’s “Special 301” status because of positive steps the country has taken in its intellectual property regime, USTR announced Sept. 15. USTR put Thailand on the Special 301 priority watch list in its 2017 Special 301 report released in April. USTR had “noted that the United States was prepared to review that status if Thailand continued to take positive action on IP issues and made substantial progress in addressing the concerns described in the Special 301 report,” the agency said in a statement. The Trump administration has been “closely engaging” with Thailand on improving IP protection and enforcement, and the nation has taken recent steps to improve enforcement against pirated and counterfeit goods, including enhanced agency coordination and a continuing focus on investigations and raids, USTR said. Thailand also acceded to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks in August, which makes it easier for U.S. companies to file for trademark protection, USTR said.

NAFTA’s yarn-forward rules of origin for textiles and apparel is probably “here to stay,” American Apparel and Footwear Association Executive Vice President Stephen Lamar said during an interview for Just-Style.com. That doesn’t mean minor changes can’t significantly impact sourcing, he added. “Minor changes could mean that someone who is relying on a particular flexibility or a particular provision all the sudden can’t use it, and so their entire supply chain has to pivot and perhaps move outside of North America entirely,” Lamar said. “So any changes, including very, very minor changes, are ones that you really have to do very cautiously with really a lot of education and understanding of exactly who’s going to be impacted, who may or may not be hurt or who may be helped by them.” Modifying or eliminating these “flexibilities” could make yarn-forward much more difficult to comply with, he said.

South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Ahn Ho-young on Sept. 11 said U.S. exports to his country have increased significantly since the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2012, days after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said U.S. exports to South Korea have “arguably gone down” slightly. Trade tensions between the two nations have recently intensified, after President Donald Trump earlier this month indicated to White House reporters, and media outlets reported it, that he was considering canceling the deal (see 1709050033). U.S. and South Korean officials have continued engagement on KORUS since an Aug. 22 joint meeting failed to resolve U.S. concerns about the deal (see 1708220013), Ahn said during a Washington International Trade Association event. After the joint meeting, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer cited the U.S. trade deficit with the nation, South Korea’s approach to intellectual property, and South Korean regulations seen by the Trump administration as protectionist (see 1708220013).

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Malaysian Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed met in Washington on Sept. 11, and directed their staffs to ramp up cooperation on intellectual property, agriculture, “goods,” labor and the environment under the countries’ Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. Lighthizer and Mohamed will “stay in close touch” over the next months to evaluate progress in resolving “outstanding issues” and engage on ways to enhance economic ties and promote “more balanced trade” between the U.S. and Malaysia, USTR said. The agency also pointed to the $24.8 billion goods trade deficit the U.S. had with Malaysia in 2016, and to the fact that the Malaysia was the U.S.'s 18th largest goods trading partner last year, with $48.5 billion in bilateral goods trade.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is correcting the date of its hearing on Russia’s implementation of its World Trade Organization commitments to Oct. 10, USTR said. In an Aug. 4 Federal Register notice, the agency originally said the hearing to gather information for its 2017 report would take place on Sept. 28 (see 1708030001). Comments are still due on Sept. 22, USTR said. The 2016 report criticized Russia for opaque customs regulations for import valuation, tedious import licensing requirements and troublesome rules for imports of alcoholic products, among other things (see 1612220050). Russia imposed a ban in 2014 on some U.S. agricultural products after the Obama administration and allies sanctioned Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine conflict (see 14082620).

The heads of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and the National Association of Manufacturers in an Aug. 23 letter urged several senior members of the Trump administration to work to preserve investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in a renegotiated NAFTA, adding that business support for an updated deal could falter if talks serve to weaken or nix the dispute mechanism. Sent to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, the letter says ISDS doesn’t infringe U.S. sovereignty, and ensures that other countries don’t seize U.S. investors’ property without compensation and don’t impose forced localization requirements compelling jobs to be “shipped overseas.” The letter follows another letter from more than 100 trade groups sent to the administration earlier this month urging continuance of ISDS in NAFTA (see 1708090014).

The Trump administration should terminate Mauritania’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) benefits, as the country hasn’t established rights to organize and collectively bargain, and continues to harass people who campaign to end slavery in the country, AFL-CIO trade policy specialist Celeste Drake told the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee’s AGOA Implementation Subcommittee on Aug. 23. According to prepared remarks for a hearing to inform the executive branch’s review of AGOA benefits for fiscal year 2018, where Drake was the only testifying witness, she said the International Labor Organization and constituent groups have unsuccessfully tried to work with the Mauritanian government to address the situation in recent years.