The skyrocketing Asian population and regional economic gains will open the door for huge amounts of U.S. agricultural exports in the coming years, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be critical in ensuring U.S. companies have fair access to those markets, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a speech to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in Washington on Feb. 2, according to prepared remarks released by USTR. “With the contours of a final TPP agreement coming into focus and strong expressions of bipartisan support for increasing ‘Made-in-America’ exports, it’s looking like some of that excitement will emerge from our trade policy,” Froman said, adding that there will be roughly 3.2 billion middle-class consumers in Asia by 2030.
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.
Despite renewed vigor to tackle Trade Promotion Authority in the 114th Congress, Senate lawmakers continue to negotiate whether to add a number of expired or expiring trade bills to an initial TPA package, senators and lobbyists said over recent days. Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, may still opt to introduce a standalone TPA bill, said those interviewed. Either way, many lawmakers, but primarily Democrats, are poised to muscle a number of amendments onto the bill at some point in the legislative process.
The U.S. ratified the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement on Jan. 23, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Jan. 23 (here). Froman gave WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo the U.S. “letter of acceptance” for the TFA while in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, USTR said. The U.S. commitment marks the final step in agreeing to enter the agreement into force. The U.S. is only the third country, out of 161 WTO members, to ratify the TFA, said USTR. Hong Kong and Singapore have also ratified the deal, and the U.S. is working with other countries to help ensure implementation, said USTR. The WTO will move ahead with implementation of the deal after two-thirds of members ratify it (see 1411280027). The National Foreign Trade Council praised the U.S. move in a statement (here). "We hope that other countries recognize the importance of this agreement as a way to modernize trade rules, and we call on them to follow suit and ratify TFA without delay,” said NFTC Vice President for Global Trade Issues Jake Colvin.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative scheduled a number of events for Jan. 6 and Jan. 10 in Washington, all of which are closed to the press, said USTR in an email. USTR Michael Froman will participate in the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue with Vice President Joe Biden. Froman will then meet with Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, and later in the day, will speak with members of the National Governors Association. Then on Jan. 10, Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will meet with trade staff at the National Association of Manufacturers.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative published a notice on sugar, syrup goods and sugar-containing product trade surpluses for Chile, Morocco, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, and Panama (here).
U.S. and South Korean trade delegations will meet often in early 2015 to iron out the outstanding issues in U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Dec. 14 (here). USTR chief Michael Froman met with South Korean Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick on that day to monitor progress in implementation. The talks focused on auto issues and financial services, said USTR. The agency previously complained about insufficient progress on reforming KORUS customs provisions for U.S. auto exports, saying the South Koreans continue to require excessive, trade-inhibiting documentation (see 14031425).
As negotiators with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative meet this week with Trans-Pacific Partnership counterparts in Washington, the agency continues to refuse to disclose the details of the talks with lawmakers, said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and several Democratic colleagues on a Dec. 8 conference call. “We don’t know why the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador [Michael] Froman has not been forthcoming,” said DeLauro.
The Obama administration should ensure duties on all tariff lines are reduced in a Trans-Pacific Partnership, said three prominent dairy producers in a Dec. 4 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, while stopping short of calling for comprehensive elimination (here). The administration and a wide range of industry representatives have called for complete tariff elimination in the pact, but as the talks continue to move forward without any critical breakthrough, some analysts have said partial tariff elimination still can benefit the U.S. (see 14060404).
The U.S. and Myanmar struck a deal on Nov. 14 to boost labor rights protections in the Southeast Asian country, the White House and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced. The U.S. will join Japan, Denmark and the International Labor Organization in helping improve Myanmar’s labor regime through a multi-year legislative reform process and capacity building efforts, the Obama administration said. “The labor reform plan developed under this Initiative is intended to serve as a blueprint to prioritize legal changes, coordinate donor assistance, and strengthen government capacity to implement those reforms in close cooperation with civil society representatives,” said the White House in a statement (here). President Barack Obama is currently in Myanmar for talks with regional leaders, and he is set to arrive in Australia for the G20 meeting on Nov. 15. The labor reform plan will be formally drafted in early 2015, said USTR (here).
U.S. and Indian trade negotiators hammered out an unexpected deal to move the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement forward in Geneva, the Obama administration announced on Nov. 13. India torpedoed implementation of the agreement in late July, but the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the two countries struck a deal on Indian agricultural subsidy concerns that proved enough to regain Indian support for the TFA. The meeting of the minds will pave the way for all WTO members to implement the agreement, as well as the entire Bali package, said USTR.