U.S. negotiators didn’t show their typical drive to close Trans-Pacific Partnership talks during the latest ministerial in Maui, and the lost momentum may allow the negotiations to languish,the top Japanese negotiator for TPP reportedly said (here). "What every country thought was strange was that the United States did not show its usual stubborn persistence this time but simply gave up," Akira Amari said. Amari said he pressured another TPP summit later in August in order to maintain the momentum so TPP parties don’t “lose interest.” U.S. trade experts have dismissed suggestions that TPP parties are preparing to hold another imminent summit (see 1508100011).

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 is comprised of 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. USTR prefers stakeholders submit comments through www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0008. Comments are due by Oct. 5.

The U.S. is set to end all government policies that allow for discriminatory procurement treatment of goods and services originating in New Zealand, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). That change in policy will be brought on by New Zealand’s formal accession on Aug. 12 to the World Trade Organization’s revised Government Procurement Agreement (see 1507140056). New Zealand’s participation in the pact will bring its total membership to 44 countries, including the 28 European Union states. USTR is waiving any U.S. law that could prevent impartial treatment of New Zealand goods and services in U.S. procurement activities. Those goods and services will now receive the same procurement treatment as U.S. products, said USTR.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for stakeholder comments on the Indonesian challenge at the World Trade Organization over U.S. duties on coated paper (here). The Indonesian government formally requested a settlement panel in the dispute in mid-July, said USTR. The Court of International Trade last upheld the U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties on Indonesian coated paper in early 2013 (see 13022101). USTR asked for comments on the dispute in April, after the two countries launched consultations to reach a compromise (see 1504170012). Those talks evidently failed to yield an outcome acceptable to both parties. New comments are due Sept. 9. USTR encourages stakeholders to submit comments through www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0005.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is readying to hold an Aug. 11 hearing on competitive needs limitations and proposed designations for cotton products, and stakeholders submitted a range of comments in recent days (here). Those comments were due on July 31 in accordance with USTR’s deadlines for the review (see 1507060025). In the comments, industry and government officials pressured the agency to preserve CNLs for a long list of products, from Thai coconuts to Indian gold rope necklaces to Turkish copper. The National Cotton Council expressed support for GSP-eligibility for certain cotton of various specific staple lengths (not carded or combed), certain cotton card strips made from cotton waste and certain cotton fibers (carded or combed) that originate in least developed beneficiary developing countries. The Malawian government also pushed USTR to admit those cotton products. A number of other stakeholders submitted comments.

U.S. agricultural producers urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to pressure South Africa to remove unnecessary trade barriers on U.S. exports in comments submitted as part of USTR’s out-of-cycle of the country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (here). USTR is convening a hearing on South Africa’s AGOA beneficiary status on Aug. 7, and the window for comments closed on Aug. 5 (see 1507200019). A range of U.S. agriculture companies and associations were set to testify at the hearing.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will be holding a public hearing on Chinese compliance with its World Trade Organization commitments on Oct. 7, and all stakeholder comments are due by Sept. 23 (here). USTR is also encouraging stakeholders to testify publicly. Those that want to testify must notify the agency by Sept. 23, as well. The U.S. and China have faced off in a number of high-profile WTO disputes recently. Roughly one week ago, the WTO ruled China is falling short in complying with a 2012 decision to fault high duties on U.S. grain oriented electrical steel exports (see 1507310030). USTR recommends stakeholders submit comments through www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0010.

Claims that the U.S. sugar market is closed to foreign producers are among the major fallacies of a "recent lobbying campaign to gut U.S. sugar policy and outsource U.S. sugar production to heavily subsidized foreign industries," said newly elected American Sugar Alliance (ASA) Chairman Luther Markwart in a press release (here). The U.S. is one of the world's biggest sugar importers and 41 countries have access, he said. Increased sugar market access is one of the contentious issues within Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations (see 14100601). Australia in particular continues to press for more access to the U.S. market, experts say (see 1508030024). Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Sharon Bomer Lauritsen hit back at concerns over U.S. sugar concessions in remarks at the International Sweetener Symposium in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico on Aug. 3. “U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Michael Froman, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and everybody below them are committed to not doing anything in TPP that will undermine the U.S. sugar program,” she said, according to an ASA news release (here).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is still on track to hold an out-of-cycle review hearing on South African status in the African Growth and Opportunity Act on Aug. 7, said USTR in its weekly schedule (here). USTR has an extremely limited public agenda this week following the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating round in Maui. All comments and other statements are due by Aug. 5 (see 1507200019).

The U.S. should pressure more immediate duty reductions and apparel flexibilities in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in order to properly serve U.S. retailers, said a bipartisan group of nearly two dozen House lawmakers in a recent letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. TPP negotiations are currently poised to put in place 10-12 duty phaseouts for apparel and a strict yarn forward rule of origin, said the lawmakers, let by Reps. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif. USTR negotiators should improve the apparel terms through full liberalization of “key products, such as cotton sweaters,” more duty cuts and preferential treatment for “cut and sew” products. The yarn forward rule aims to ensure only products wholly sourced in the exporting country receive preferences, while cut and sew rules would give that preferential access to apparel that undergoes a value change just through cutting and sewing. “U.S. apparel retailers pay hundreds of millions of dollars in duties each year; they have higher tariff liability than nearly any other sector in the U.S. economy, and their tariff liability is a hindrance to their global competitiveness,” said the letter (here). Apparel importers have long been pitted against domestic producers in fights over trade policy (see 1503260001). Several of those importers laid out their priorities to Froman in a recent letter (see 1507270017). USTR is set to wrap up the Maui TPP ministerial on July 31.