U.S. officials will join their Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) counterparts for a number of bilateral discussions and a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing in the coming days, said a senior U.S. trade official during a Nov. 5 conference call with reporters. The Obama administration does not expect, however, to reach a final TPP agreement with the other parties in the pact, said the senior official, who asked to stay anonymous. Administration officials are also not scheduled to meet formally with Japanese Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman met on official terms with Amari in Washington, D.C. in September, but the summit failed to yield progress on outstanding U.S.-Japanese disagreements in TPP (see 14092514).

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will meet with Italian Ambassador to the U.S., Claudio Bisogniero, on Nov. 3, the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule update (here). The U.S. and European Union are continuing to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, although USTR is battling to quell concerns over regulatory coherence and other areas of the talks (see 1410160019). Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will on the same day convene with Japanese negotiator Takeo Mori to try to advance Trans-Pacific Partnership disagreements on auto trade. Froman then travels to Beijing on Nov. 6 to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial, a summit some U.S. trade supporters are eyeing as an opportunity to wind down TPP talks (see 1410300001).

A Mexican government decree designed to hit back against undervalued footwear imports is preventing duty reductions and boosting costs for U.S. companies, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association in comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Oct. 29 (here). USTR asked for comments in mid-August to compile its annual report on foreign trade barriers (see 14081409). Mexico issued the decree on Aug. 29 (see 14082928). Mexican Finance Secretary Luis Videgaray said around the time of the decree the government will levy a 25-30 percent tariff on footwear imports and establish a floor price for the products (here).

U.S. trade policy continues to lag behind internet-related developments in global trade and the U.S. should cater its trade approach more for services as that sector grows at a quick pace, said the Computer and Communications Industry Association in recent comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (here). USTR asked for comments in mid-August to compile its annual report on foreign trade barriers (see 14081409). "The Internet has been the single biggest component of the cross border trade in services, with many of those services facilitating the international goods trade as well,” the trade group said. “To protect U.S. economic interests, U.S. trade policy needs to prioritize addressing barriers to the Internet and Internet enabled services, given their key role in the U.S. economy and U.S. export growth.” Digital trade is inhibited by global internet infrastructure mandates for local production, filtering and blocking of internet material, poor intellectual property protections, the CCIA said. Customs procedures and small shipment tariffs are also obstacles, said the association. Several lawmakers recently asked the USTR to work to ease cross-border data flows (see 1410270005).

The U.S. must address Japanese import restrictions for dairy products in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, alongside efforts to ensure complete tariff elimination in a final pact, said International Dairy Foods Association President Connie Tipton in a recent plea to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The group's complaint is that the Japanese Agriculture and Livestock Industries Corporation (ALIC) buys imported dairy products and sells them back to the importing companies at different rates “to account for price gaps between imported and manufactured dairy products,” says the ALIC (here). The program also administers the Japanese agricultural tariff quota. “ALIC is in total control of Japan’s dairy imports,” said Tipton. “The financial benefits of the system flow entirely to the government, after which those financial ‘gains’ are shared with Japanese dairy producers. It would be difficult to imagine an import management system that is more trade distortive than this one.” Tipton said the program could be the “Achilles heel” in TPP negotiations. Other trade groups have asked that Japanese trade programs be taken up in TPP negotiations. The National Pork Producer’s Council, for example, recently called for the removal of a Japanese trade program, the Japanese Gate System, as part of TPP talks (see 14081418).

The Obama administration should ensure the Berry Amendment, a law that requires the Defense Department to give preferential procurement treatment to U.S. companies, is kept in place through all future free trade negotiations and pacts, said American Apparel and Footwear Association President Juanita Duggan in an Oct. 24 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman (here). “As you know, the Berry Amendment is a staple provision in all U.S. [free trade agreements]," said Duggan. "Its inclusion has been a clear signal to the U.S. industry and our trading partners that the United States views the Berry Amendment as a key component of U.S. contracting law.”

Online counterfeit operations continue to inflict more harm on the fashion industry than traditional open-air marketplaces globally, and enforcement efforts against the rogue websites are failing to scale back counterfeit sales, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association in comments filed on Oct. 24 to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (here). USTR asked for industry comments on Sept. 25 to help craft its 2014 Special 301 Review of Notorious Markets (see 14092518).

Trans-Pacific Partnership ministers and heads of delegation again touted real progress in TPP negotiations following two days of high-level meetings in Sydney and five days of lower-level talks in Canberra, claiming the U.S. and the 11 other TPP partners are edging closer to striking an accord on both tariff and non-tariff arrangements. The Sydney negotiations brought all the high-ranking officials together to help "set the stage to bring the TPP negotiations to finalization," said a joint statement by the 12 nations. High-ranking officials, including U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, now have given the reins over to their chief negotiators. The U.S. chief negotiator is Barbara Weisel. President Barack Obama in June pinpointed November as a target for finalization of TPP text (see 14091028).

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will travel to Beijing on Oct. 27 for talks with Chinese officials ahead of two large trade summits before the end of 2015, the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule update (here). The Beijing stopover comes as Froman is making his way back to Washington, D.C., following the Trans-Pacific Partnership ministerial in Sydney, Australia from Oct. 25-27. U.S. officials are preparing to attend Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings from Nov. 5-11 in Beijing (here). The summit will host TPP partners, and President Barack Obama has targeted November to finalize a TPP agreement.

U.S. and Peruvian officials met in Lima on Oct. 17 to boost cooperation in combating labor rights violations, namely child and forced labor in Peru, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement. The two sides met to strengthen implementation of the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement, which went into force in 2009. The Oct. 17 meeting marks the second for the Labor Affairs Council, a working group created through the trade agreement. The U.S. and Peru aim to work together to “guarantee full implementation of the Labor Chapter” and, in particular, improve labor inspections in Peru, said the statement. Many members of the Obama administration, as well as their counterparts in the Peruvian government, attended the meeting, including Deputy Assistant USTR Carlos Romero.