The U.S. is requesting World Trade Organization consultations over Chinese export duties on 21 tariff lines related to the raw materials antimony, cobalt, copper, graphite, lead, magnesia, talc, tantalum and tin, for which Beijing charges 5 percent to 20 percent ad valorem rates, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman announced (here). The duties hurt U.S. chemical, steel and automotive sectors, to name a few, make the materials more expensive for downstream U.S. manufacturers, and encourage U.S. and other non-Chinese producers to move production to China, Froman’s office said. China committed to erase export duties for all products except those listed in a specific annex upon its accession to the WTO, USTR said. Vice President Joe Biden is addressing the issue during a speech at the Port of San Diego July 13.

G-20 trade ministers over the weekend in Shanghai agreed to finalize a compromise framework for the World Trade Organization Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) by the G-20 leaders meeting in Hangzhou, China, in September, which would set the stage for completion of the deal before the end of 2016, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement (here). The ministers will conclude the EGA itself through a ministerial meeting, Froman said. During the Shanghai meeting of G-20 trade ministers, the G-20 also recognized that “excess capacity is a global issue,” Froman said. “Building on recent U.S.-China bilateral commitments, the G-20 has added to the chorus of voices calling for tackling the root causes of excess capacity for the benefit of both developing and developed countries." The Chinese government during the U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue last month agreed not to initiate new efforts to boost its steel capacity and pledged to give more than $15 billion to incentivize structural adjustments in its steel sector (see 1606080041).

Four industry groups urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to extend eligibility for 28 travel goods for all Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) beneficiary countries and requested a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman after USTR deferred duty benefit decisions on several articles for non-least developed beneficiary developing countries (LDBDCs) (see 1607010008). In a July 5 letter (here), the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the Outdoor Industry Association, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, and the Travel Goods Association said they were “stunned” that USTR “disregarded” the intent of Congress and stakeholder views expressed at the International Trade Commission and Trade Policy Staff Committee hearings, and in other communications with USTR, “despite virtually unanimous stakeholder and strong bipartisan support for the product expansion.”

Saudi Arabia reopened its market to U.S. beef and beef products after the country’s government banned such imports for four years following an “atypical case” of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the U.S. in 2012, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a joint statement (here). Saudi Arabia will start by allowing beef imports from cattle less than 30 months old, expanding access to products from cattle under 48 months old after a phase-in period, they said. In the next few weeks, officials will announce an Agricultural Marketing Service program to certify U.S. beef to Saudi Arabia’s import requirements, Froman and Vilsack added. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn’t comment.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative suggested it could consider reaccepting Swaziland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as beneficiaries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if the countries make certain political reforms. Congo’s eligibility will largely depend on whether its 2016 presidential election is “free and fair,” while the U.S. is withholding benefits from Swaziland pending satisfaction of U.S. calls to protect freedom of speech and amend anti-terrorism legislation that currently functions to suppress political dissent, USTR indicated in its first biennial report of AGOA implementation required by the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (here). Notably, the report did not say how the nine other sub-Saharan countries ineligible for AGOA might regain tariff preferences.

U.S. trade preference programs have helped lower poverty and reduce hunger in several beneficiary countries, but free-trade agreements and general worldwide tariff decreases could dilute the social impacts of these trade programs, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a report released June 29 that was required by the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (here). Furthermore, tariff waivers can’t replace policy reforms needed to address bottlenecks in certain countries’ supply chains, the report says. The report also summarizes how specific products and countries have fared after implementation of preference programs: for instance, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius and Madagascar accounted for 92 percent of all U.S. apparel imports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act last year. USTR also touted several preference program “success stories,” such as Ethiopia’s surge in shoe exports to the U.S. under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) from $630,000 in 2011 to $20 million 2015, a number that continues to rise.

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization Christopher Wilson commended Zambia for its reform efforts and its 6.6 percent rate of economic growth since 2009, but urged the country to better utilize its benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act during WTO’s Trade Policy Review of Zambia, USTR said (here).

“Significant differences” remain between the U.S. and Canada on how to solve the Softwood Lumber Agreement, after the deal expired Oct. 12, but the tension during ongoing negotiations has helped the countries find common ground and "explore options" for "several key components" of any new lumber deal, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Canada's Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland said in a joint statement (here). "The United States and Canada are committed to continuing negotiations in an effort to achieve a durable and equitable solution for North American softwood lumber producers, downstream industries and consumers," the statement says. U.S. and Canadian officials have had government-to-government sessions, as well as meetings with stakeholders, members of the countries' legislatures, and state and provincial governments, to try to resolve the issue. On March 10, the White House announced that President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tasked their countries' trade ministers with exploring potential paths forward for any softwood lumber agreement, and to report back to them within 100 days on their findings (see 1603300040).

Elimination of tariffs as high as 32 percent for orange exports to Japan and as high as 40 percent for exports of “key categories” of cheese to the country, along with Japanese commitments to improve tariff-rate quota management, will help U.S. agriculture exports to grow significantly under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said during the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives Washington Conference (here). The U.S. and Japan are the two largest economies in TPP, and the agreement cannot enter into force unless both sign it. Under TPP, agricultural product tariffs will “either go away completely or be greatly reduced in areas of priorities,” Froman said. “As you go up to Capitol Hill today, I want you to keep this choice in mind and make it clear to the people you’re talking to,” Froman said. “Do we want to help shape an Asia Pacific market based on a rules-based trading system that reflects our interests and ou[r] values, or are we going to cede that role to others and find ourselves excluded from large and some of the fastest growing markets in the world, facing a set of rules that do not necessarily play to our advantages?”

Officials from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the U.S. met in Paris on June 2, and reiterated their commitment to a “high-standard, ambitious” Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) to eliminate tariffs on a wide range of environmental goods before the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, in September, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement (here). The officials pledged to find common ground on the World Trade Organization-sponsored agreement in order to boost global trade of environmental goods, thereby improving environmental protection, promoting economic growth and creating green jobs, and they encouraged other WTO members “with a similar level of ambition and interest” to join. There have been 13 EGA negotiating rounds so far.