Short supply list and origin verification were among areas of discussion within the textile provisions of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership as of March, according to a purportedly leaked TTIP document (here). Neither the U.S. nor EU confirmed authenticity of some 13 chapters of the TTIP text allegedly leaked this week, but both sides criticized conclusions made based on the texts (see 1605020032).
On April 29, an interim rule issued by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will be codified into a final rule establishing a petition process to supplement the normal annual request cycle for public comments on whether African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beneficiary countries meet eligibility requirements, USTR said (here). Between March 18, when the interim rule took effect, and April 18, USTR received no public comments on the proposed final rule, which will be implemented without change, the agency said.
Switzerland is now on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's lower-tier watch list for copyright and other intellectual property rights violations, USTR said April 27 in its annual Special 301 report on the global status of IP rights enforcement (here). China and India remain on USTR's mid-tier priority watch list, which includes nine other countries, because ongoing IP rights enforcement problems outweigh efforts to reform both nations' IP laws. USTR again chose not to include any countries on its higher-tier priority foreign country list.
The risk that global steel overcapacity poses to people’s livelihoods provides U.S. negotiators with a very powerful narrative to inject into efforts to convince Chinese government officials to adopt policies to reduce its steel glut, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Robert Holleyman said during a panel discussion on April 26 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. During the panel, Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Nathan Sheets said the U.S. is “vigorously” engaging with China on the overcapacity issue. Holleyman expressed a need for the U.S. to verify that Chinese state-owned enterprises, which he said are crucial to China's prolific steel industry, operate according to market principles. Holleyman added that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and other agencies are “very active” in discussions about how to handle China’s request for granting it market economy status in antidumping duty cases upon the expiration of its World Trade Organization accession protocol. The protocol says the country will remain a non-market economy until Dec. 11, when the provision allowing the methodology behind that status expires. Holleyman said it was premature to comment on what designation the U.S. will recommend for China, only adding, “It is an active discussion.”
Despite the inability of this week’s high-level meeting of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Brussels to secure serious Chinese commitments to help reduce excess global steel capacity, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker pledged to work “directly” with Beijing on the issue in bilateral and multilateral fora in the “weeks and months ahead,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). “As we heard at a hearing last week on overcapacity convened by the Administration, the viability of the global steel industry has come under intense pressure from excess production and capacity in China, and there are already significant human costs associated with the current steel market downturn,” Froman and Pritzker said in a joint statement. “This is a global issue and meaningful solutions will require global action, including from steel-producing countries, especially China.” Governments directly affected by global steel overcapacity will have “no choice” but to take trade remedy action against China unless the country acts decisively to reduce excess capacity, Froman and Pritzker said.
China will end an “extensive” subsidy program for Chinese exporters, after reaching agreement with the U.S. to close an ongoing dispute at the World Trade Organization, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on April 14 (here). As a result of the deal, China will stop providing free or discounted services to exporters in the textiles, apparel and footwear; advanced materials and metals (including steel and aluminum); light industry; specialty chemicals; medical product; hardware and building materials; and agriculture sectors. It will also end export-contingent cash grant programs. The agreement (here) to end export subsidies provided through China’s Demonstration Bases-Common Service Platform program resolves a WTO dispute filed by the U.S. in February 2015 (see 1502110022), according to a USTR fact sheet (here).
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke are meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom in London April 10-11 for negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). Froman and Malmstrom will meet for their next formal round of negotiations April 25 in New York.
The U.S. and European are “accelerating” negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, as U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom have met several times in the past few weeks to that end, according to a USTR official. Froman and Malmstrom have met regularly outside of formal negotiating rounds to advance “some of the more challenging aspects” of negotiations, namely, regulatory issues, the official said. USTR provided the EU with proposed language meant to “inject … transparency and opportunity” in a way that seeks to resolve regulatory divergences, he said. USTR’s overall TTIP goal for the “next few months” is to fill any holes with regard to regulatory practices and cooperation, as well as technical regulations, “reserving the more sensitive areas for end of the year,” the official said. USTR and EU are still working to conclude negotiations of the deal by the end of 2016, he said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its annual 2016 National Trade Estimate Report (here) on March 31, which highlighted the removal of several foreign trade barriers to U.S. products that the Obama Administration secured in 2015. These include the conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, the removal of sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to U.S. meat exports to South Africa, and simplification of labeling requirements for U.S. exports to India. The report is the 31st in an annual series that highlights significant foreign trade barriers to U.S. exports, and serves as a “companion piece” to the President’s Trade Policy Agenda published by USTR, the office said.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, Brazilian Minister of External Relations Mauro Vieira and Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Armando Monteiro, on March 30 discussed the countries’ trade agendas and the global overcapacity of steel, USTR said (here). The official meeting constituted the first ever ministerial-level gathering of the U.S.-Brazil Commission on Economic and Trade Relations, USTR said. Brazil will host the next commission meeting in 2017.