The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s mention of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba in its 2015 Notorious Markets Report sent a strong warning to the company to stop and prevent the peddling of counterfeit goods on its websites (see 1512170016), the American Apparel & Footwear Association said on Dec. 17 (here). “The U.S. government sent a strong warning to Alibaba today ─ what it said was, clean up your sites, show us the results, and do it soon,” AAFA CEO Juanita Duggan said in a statement. “USTR told Alibaba to make serious reforms and get rid of the rampant counterfeit problem on its sites ─ AAFA agrees.” AAFA said USTR shares its concerns about Alibaba’s enforcement system, highlighting that the agency said in its report that the mechanism is “too slow, difficult to use, and lacks transparency.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Dec. 17 released the results of its 2015 Special 301 out-of-cycle review on intellectual property infringement (here). This year’s out of cycle review focused on the sale of counterfeit goods online, listing 14 online markets alongside physical markets in China, Nigeria, Paraguay, Brazil, Indonesia, Argentina, India, Mexico and Thailand. USTR cited the difficulties customs authorities face attempting to stop shipments of counterfeit goods sold online, as well as the growing problem of free trade zones enabling counterfeit activities.

The U.S. and more than 50 of its WTO partners announced on Dec. 16 a completed agreement to expand information technology that officials said they hope will generate economic growth by canceling hundreds of tariffs on IT exports around the world, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). The first major tariff elimination deal at the WTO in 18 years will slash tariffs on hundreds of U.S.-origin technology products, and WTO estimates that expansion of the information technology agreement (ITA) will strike tariffs on approximately $1.3 trillion worth of yearly global exports of information and communications technology products, USTR said. Under the agreement, more than $180 billion in yearly U.S. tech exports will no longer face burdensome tariffs in “key markets around the globe,” USTR said. The original ITA was reached in 1996.

The U.S. Trade Representative set calendar year 2016 and 2017 procurement thresholds (here) under the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), and U.S. free trade agreements with Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, DR-CAFTA, Morocco, NAFTA, Oman, Panama, Peru, and Singapore. U.S. obligations under these agreements apply to covered procurements valued at or above the specified U.S. dollar thresholds.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom pledged to “rapidly” move forward in finishing negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), including through “enhanced” intercessional work, frequent formal negotiations and more minister-level consultations, USTR Michael Froman said in a statement Dec. 11, after his TTIP meeting with Malmstrom in Brussels this week. There's been major progress on TTIP "in the past year, notably since the G7 Elmau summit in June, when we agreed to accelerate work on all elements of the agreement,” Froman said. “We are fully committed to expeditiously reaching an ambitious, comprehensive agreement that promotes economic growth and jobs, strengthens our strategic partnership, and reflects our shared values.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will be holding a public hearing on policy recommendations for trade and investment with Africa on Jan. 28, and all stakeholder comments are due by Jan. 19, it said (here). USTR is also encouraging stakeholders to testify publicly. Those that want to testify must notify the agency by Jan. 19, as well. The hearing will relate to USTR's "comprehensive analysis to examine how to deepen our trade and investment relationship with sub-Saharan African countries," it said. USTR recommends stakeholders submit comments through www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0019.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced eligibility for 2016 "trade surplus" tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for calendar year 2016 (here). USTR found Colombia, Panama and six members of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) eligible for the TRQ. The agency found Chile, Morocco and Peru do not qualify.

The U.S. delegation in Geneva asked the World Trade Organization to begin dispute settlement proceedings with China over tax exemptions for aircraft made in China, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a news release (here). The USTR said China imposes, but hasn't published, a 17 percent value added tax on imported aircraft, while exempting similar aircraft made in China. China’s "measures appear to breach WTO rules prohibiting discriminatory taxation on the basis of national origin," it said. China's actions are inconsistent with the commitments it made when it joined the WTO, the USTR said in the consultation request letter (here).

The U.S. Trade Representative announced on Nov. 23 (here) the conclusion of the 26th Session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, reaching agreement with Chinese government officials on areas including intellectual property rights enforcement, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The U.S. and China agreed to “a number of IPR-related commitments that will facilitate much needed improvements in a wide range of industries,” including Chinese participation in a government-industry dialogue and the discussion of recent Chinese efforts on trade secret protection. According to a fact sheet (here) released after the talks, U.S. and Chinese officials also discussed the recent glut in Chinese production of steel and aluminum products.

The U.S. Trade Representative announced it will begin a country practices review of worker rights in Thailand to determine whether to suspend or curtail the country’s Generalized System of Preferences benefits as part of USTR’s 2015 GSP Review, it said in a notice (here). USTR also said it recently ended a country practices review of Philippines, also for worker rights, with no change to its GSP benefits. USTR will hold a hearing Jan 14-15 on its GSP country practice review of Thailand, as well as ongoing country practice reviews on Fiji (worker rights), Ecuador (arbitral awards), Georgia (worker rights), Iraq (worker rights), Iraq (worker rights), Niger (worker rights and child labor), and Uzbekistan (worker rights). Pre-hearing briefs and requests to appear at the hearing are due Jan. 4, and post-hearing briefs are due Feb. 12.