The U.S. and its Information Technology Agreement partners struck a deal to open “the door for swift conclusion” of an ITA expansion deal in Geneva, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in recent days. A finalized expansion would mark the first time World Trade Organization parties locked down a “major” accord to cut tariffs in nearly 20 years, said USTR (here). Many details remain unclear, but the accord will eliminate tariffs on roughly 200 products, said the WTO in a statement (here). Eighty countries are party to the ITA, including the European Union bloc.
US Trade Representative (USTR)
A U.S. Cabinet level position which serves as the President's primary representative, negotiator, and spokesperson regarding U.S. trade policy. The USTR heads the Office of the United States Trade Representative which develops and coordinates U.S. policy for international trade, commodities, and direct investments, as well as overseeing trade negotiations with other countries.
U.S. chicken exporters will have access to new markets following South African concessions to U.S. demands for removal of antidumping duties on bone-in U.S. poultry, said Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Chris Coons, D-Del., on June 5. The South African Poultry Association and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council brokered the deal to give way to more U.S. access, said the two lawmakers in a release (here).
A World Trade Organization appellate body agreed on June 4 with a recent panel decision to fault India for import bans on U.S. poultry, live eggs and other agricultural products. The bans “arbitrarily and unjustifiably” discriminate against U.S. imports, and represent a “disguised restriction on international trade,” said the WTO in its original panel report in October 2014 (see 1410140106). India argued the bans are necessary to safeguard the country from avian influenza (AI), also known as bird flu. India appealed the panel report in January (see 1501280014). The appellate body reiterated those criticisms of the Indian bans on June 4. The restrictions are “not based on a risk assessment,” said the appellate report (here).
The Senate will likely again take up an amendment withdrawn in committee to terminate South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act after three years, said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., at a Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on April 23. The amendment had been withdrawn in favor of another amendment approved requiring the U.S. Trade Representative conduct an AGOA out-of-cycle review of South Africa. However, the Senate will still consider the three-year removal of South Africa once the Finance Committee-approved preference package hits the Senate floor, said Coons.
Newly introduced Trade Promotion Authority legislation would strengthen Congress' ability to slow trade agreement implementation bills, lawmakers and congressional aides said. The heavily-anticipated legislation, introduced on April 16, will also give the American public improved access to trade negotiations and lead the way for a number of other trade measures. Aside from procedural and transparency modifications, the bill largely mirrors the TPA legislation introduced in the last Congress, as many lawmakers and trade experts predicted (see 1501300023).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for stakeholder comment on Indonesia’s challenge at the World Trade Organization to U.S. trade remedies on coated paper (here). Comments must be submitted by May 11, via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0005. Indonesia began consultations, the step before an adjudication panel, with the U.S. in March (see 1503130069).
The Senate Finance Committee aims to move forward with Trade Promotion Authority, Trade Adjustment Assistance and an unclear number of other trade bills in the coming days, pursuing a “parallel track” with two separate trade packages, said Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., at a committee trade hearing on April 16. The lawmakers, who have spearheaded trade policy in the Senate, indicated TPA and TAA will be the flagship items of the two packages, respectively.
The U.S. delegation to the World Trade Organization plans to request the establishment of an adjudication panel over the U.S. challenge to wide-ranging Chinese export subsidies under a program called the "Demonstration Bases-Common Service Platform." The U.S. asked for consultations with China on the subsidies in February, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative set an April 15 deadline for stakeholder comments (see 1503260007). The subsidy program has paved the way for free Chinese government services, including cash grants and other measures, in the shrimp, textile and other industries, the U.S. alleges (see 1502110022). The U.S. aims to request the panel at the next Dispute Settlement Body meeting on April 22, USTR said in a statement (here). At that same DSB meeting, the U.S. and New Zealand plan to ask for an adjudication panel in an ongoing dispute with Indonesia over import restrictions, such as discriminatory pre-shipment inspection requirements and other barriers, USTR said in the statement. The WTO established its first panel in that case in mid-2013 (see 14050930).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asked for stakeholder comments on the South Korean challenge at the World Trade Organization to U.S. antidumping duties on oil country tubular goods (here). USTR criticized South Korea in March for moving ahead with a formal adjudication panel in the dispute, after consultations evidently failed to appease South Korean officials (see 1503130070). USTR is asking stakeholders to comment by May 1 on all aspects of the dispute and U.S. trade remedies. Commenters should make submissions via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2015-0001.
The TaoBao online service of Alibaba continues to peddle “innumerable” counterfeit goods on a daily basis, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association in an April 8 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Jo White. Some AAFA members have been successful in forcing TaoBao to remove fake goods from the site, while other U.S. companies complain about the website’s “slow and cumbersome procedures” for removal, said AAFA in letters to the officials. “Even successes are short-lived as counterfeit products often reappear within hours or days of a take-down,” the letters said.