U.S. and Malaysian officials met July 17 in Kuala Lumpur under their Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, and discussed ways to further strengthen trade relations and promote “free, fair and balanced” bilateral trade, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced (here). The two nations during the meeting agreed to work together on outstanding issues, including by establishing working groups related to goods, labor, the environment, intellectual property and financial services, USTR said. The U.S. delegation included USTR and Commerce and State department officials. USTR’s announcement highlighted the U.S.’s nearly $25 billion of goods trade deficit with Malaysia in 2016.

The U.S. and Togo will co-host the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in Lome, Togo, Aug. 8-10, the State Department announced (here). The 2017 forum will join senior government officials from 38 sub-Saharan AGOA-eligible countries and an interagency U.S. group led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, including senior officials from the State, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Transportation and Treasury departments, as well as from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the U.S. African Development Fund. The forum will explore how countries “can continue to maximize the benefits of AGOA in a rapidly changing economic landscape,” and highlight the role played by women, civil society and the private sector in promoting trade and prosperity, State said.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer requested a meeting in Washington of the Joint Committee under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement to consider “possible amendments and modifications,” in a letter dated July 12 (here). The committee must meet in August, with the date selected by mutual agreement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a news release (here). Lighthizer is looking to “resolve several problems regarding market access in Korea for U.S. exports,” and “most importantly, address our significant trade imbalance,” according to the letter.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced country-by-country allocations of fiscal year 2018 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quotas for imported raw cane sugar, refined sugar, specialty sugar and sugar-containing products (here). The TRQs are effective Oct. 1, and imports will be allowed in five tranches. The allocations are the same as FY 2016 (see 1507140016) and FY 2017 (see 1605260048), and are based on historical shipment statistics.

U.S. and Philippine officials met on July 10 in Manila under their Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, having “constructive discussions” on customs, agriculture and intellectual property protection, among other issues, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). Officials also discussed the Philippines’ progress in implementing the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement and WTO Information Technology Agreement Expansion, USTR said. The agency’s statement also noted the U.S. had a $1.8 billion trade deficit with the Philippines in 2016, and said that bilateral officials agreed to work to foster “free, fair, and balanced trade,” including by promoting increased trade and eliminating trade barriers. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Barbara Weisel and Philippine Under Secretary of Trade Ceferino Rodolfo chaired the meeting.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking public comments on its Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for 2018, USTR said (here). The Interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee’s AGOA Implementation Subcommittee will convene a public hearing on AGOA eligibility on Aug. 23, and the deadline to file requests to testify there or to file any prehearing comments is Aug. 4. Aug. 30 is the final deadline for comments.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for comments (here) on the Caribbean Basin Initiative, a program that provides permanent duty elimination on a wide range of imports from the Caribbean region. The CBI comprises the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act and amendments to that law in the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. USTR is asking for comments to meet its statutory obligation to send a report to Congress every two years on the CBI. Stakeholders are encouraged to submit comments on “any aspect of the program’s operation, including the performance of CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary countries,” USTR said. The report to Congress is due by Dec. 31, and USTR is required to focus on labor policies, practices and conditions, as well as broader trade behavior in the CBI-beneficiary countries. Comments are due by Sept. 15.

The interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee’s Generalized System of Preferences Subcommittee will convene a public hearing Sept. 26 to examine Bolivia’s compliance with GSP eligibility criteria related to child labor, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). Public reporting by the Labor and State departments indicates that the government of Bolivia in 2014 adopted a Code for Children and Adolescents, which lowered the working age for children to 10 years old for self-employed workers and 12 years old for those in an employment relationship, under certain situations, USTR said. U.S. government reporting also notes concerns about Bolivia’s efforts to enforce national labor laws and create effective protections for working children as provided in its labor laws, the agency said. USTR will accept requests to testify at the public hearing until Sept. 5.

The government of Uganda, as well as apparel-related trade associations from the U.S. and Africa, urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to keep Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda eligible for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), after a March petition requested a review of whether the countries are meeting the statute’s requirements for preferential treatment. USTR last month announced an out-of-cycle AGOA eligibility review after the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles (SMART) Association in a March 21 petition for the review said that a March 2016 decision by the East African Community (EAC) to phase in an import ban on used clothing and footwear is imposing significant economic hardship on the U.S. used clothing industry (see 1706190017). USTR is holding a hearing on the out-of-cycle review on July 13, and accepted pre-hearing comments through June 30.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on June 29 hosted Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko for a meeting at which Lighthizer stressed the “importance of addressing the bilateral trade imbalance, given the very high and decades-long U.S. goods trade deficit with Japan,” USTR said (here). Lighthizer and Seko also stressed the need to deepen enforcement cooperation to address unfair trade practices by third countries contributing to global economic imbalances, USTR said.