Subsidies and “persistent trade imbalances” in North America will be among the issues addressed during the first round of NAFTA renegotiations set for Aug. 16-20, but the working text will remain classified, an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative official told reporters Aug. 15. “The text itself that will be exchanged among the governments is classified text, so that is not released,” the official said during a briefing that generally summarized the areas USTR plans to cover throughout negotiations. “But we do conduct an extremely transparent and collaborative effort … in developing our objectives, and then consulting with Congress and our stakeholders in this ninety-day period and beyond.” Trade Promotion Authority legislation of 2015 requires a 90-day consultation period between the executive and legislative branches before any administration can start formally negotiating a trade deal.

U.S. and Cambodian officials met Aug. 8 under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement to discuss ways to expand trade and investment, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Aug. 9. Trump administration officials updated Cambodia on U.S. trade priorities related to enforcement, lowering the trade deficit and opening new markets, USTR said. The U.S. had a $2.5 billion trade in goods deficit with Cambodia in 2016, and two-way trade totaled $3.2 billion. The U.S. and Cambodia “agreed to work together to address outstanding bilateral trade issues,” including on labor, intellectual property protection, and financial services, USTR said. The two nations agreed to establish working groups on labor, IP, digital and services trade, and trade facilitation, USTR said. They also discussed sanitary/phytosanitary standards and reviewed Cambodia’s implementation of the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement and its participation in the WTO Information Technology Agreement.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer approved African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) tariff benefits for textile and apparel imports from Togo, he announced Aug. 7 during the opening of the 2017 AGOA Forum in Lome, Togo. The letter Lighthizer signed approving the AGOA textile and apparel visa “will permit Togolese entrepreneurs to take advantage of the many textile and apparel benefits available under the AGOA program,” he said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking industry stakeholders to comment on Russia’s implementation of its World Trade Organization commitments. The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee will also use the stakeholder comments to craft its annual report on Russia’s WTO obligations, USTR said. The agency will also convene a Sept. 28 hearing on the matter. 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). Comments for the 2017 report are due on Sept. 22.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced country-by-country allocations of additional fiscal year 2017 in-quota quantities of the tariff-rate quotas for imported raw cane sugar. USTR also announced sugar may be entered under the FY17 TRQ until Oct. 31, 2017, one month later than the usual last entry date. These TRQs are effective Aug. 2:

The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is requesting public comments through Oct. 25 on significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports for inclusion in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's 2017 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, USTR said. Specifically, the TPSC is seeking information on obstructive or inefficient foreign import policies, government procurement restrictions, export subsidies, intellectual property protections, service and investment barriers, government-tolerated “anticompetitive conduct” of firms that restricts sale of U.S. goods in foreign markets, e=commerce trade restrictions, sanitary/phytosanitary barriers, unwarranted standards, conformity assessment procedures, onerous technical regulations, and/or “other barriers,” USTR said. Submissions should include an estimate of the potential increase in U.S. exports connected with the elimination of any cited foreign trade barrier, USTR said.

The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will conduct a public hearing on Oct. 4, and is seeking comment, to help the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative prepare its annual report to Congress on Chinese compliance with commitments made as part of its accession to the World Trade Organization, USTR said. The committee is asking potential testifiers to provide written notification and a summary of testimony by Sept. 20, and will accept public comments until then. Comments may pertain to Chinese WTO commitments regarding trading rights, import and export regulation, internal policies affecting trade, intellectual property rights, services, rule-of-law issues and other WTO commitments, the TPSC said. USTR is also requesting that the public “specifically identify unresolved compliance issues” warranting review and evaluation by USTR’s China Enforcement Task Force. If necessary, the TPSC’s hearing will continue on Oct. 5.

It’s too difficult to reverse flawed World Trade Organization dispute rulings, and China appears to be violating several obligations to the WTO, Stewart and Stewart attorney Terence Stewart said in comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Stewart submitted his comments on July 28 to USTR on the performance of U.S. free trade agreements and trade relations with WTO members with whom the U.S. runs a significant trade deficit but holds no FTA (see 1706290011). While not required, almost all WTO decisions are made through consensus, meaning that winning litigators before WTO dispute panels and the appellate body haven’t been willing to see wins reversed despite the incorrectness of some decisions, Stewart wrote. In some areas of dispute settlement, such as trade remedies, countries have targeted the U.S., “seriously changing” agreements the U.S. negotiated during the Uruguay Round.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced country-by-country reallocations of unused fiscal year 2017 in-quota amounts for the tariff-rate quotas for imported raw cane sugar.

The first round of NAFTA renegotiations between the agreement’s three parties will take place Aug. 16-20 in Washington, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced July 19 (here). Aug. 16 is the first day the Trump administration can start negotiations under the Trade Promotion Authority-provided timeline, after the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative formally notified Congress on May 18 of its intentions to start renegotiations (see 1705180043). Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere John Melle will serve as chief negotiator, a capacity in which he will be responsible for day-to-day talks at the staff level, USTR said.