Nearly 40 agricultural companies and associations pushed U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Sept. 19 to keep fighting against unreasonable Indian demands at the World Trade Organization. India torpedoed the TFA in late July, after refusing to support one procedural stage of the ratification process (see 14091813).

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke launched the 8th round of Trade in Services Agreement negotiations on Sept. 21 in Geneva, and the talks will continue through Sept. 25, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in its weekly schedule. From Sept. 23-24, USTR Michael Froman will then meet with Japanese Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari. The U.S. and Japan have yet to broker compromise in Trans-Pacific Partnership market access and auto talks (see 14091028). Among other USTR events this week, Deputy Assistant USTR for Small Business Christina Sevilla will speak about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to the Poland Small and Medium Enterprise Congress in Katowice, Poland. There are no USTR events scheduled from Sept. 24 to the end of the week.

The primary goal of U.S. trade policy is to support the U.S. economy, but strategic and foreign policy objectives also benefit from U.S. free trade agreements, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in Sept. 18 remarks at the Chamber of Commerce. A strengthened U.S. economy does enable “military might,” but the administration’s pivot to East Asia, partially through the Trans-Pacific Partnership, is reliant on bringing Asian standards to U.S. levels. “Those standards that we are seeking include are the highest labor and environmental standards of any trade agreement -- standards that will be fully enforceable,” said Froman. “They include advancements in intellectual property rights protection, both to spur innovation and ensure access to it. This agreement will include the first-ever disciplines on state-owned enterprises, which will ensure that when SOEs compete against private firms, they do so on a commercial basis.” Vietnam is still, however, insisting on mass SOE exemptions in the TPP agreement, observers say (see 14091028).

The U.S. will host the seventh round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks in Chevy Chase, Maryland from Sept. 29-Oct. 3. The last round, held in July, yielded progress on trade facilitation text, an EU official said (see 14072111)]. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not mention focus areas for negotiations in its announcement.

Taiwan continues to be an active participant in World Trade Organization multilateral and plurilateral negotiations, namely on the Trade Facilitation Agreement, said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke at the WTO review of Taiwan on Sept. 16. The country is a staunch supporter of the Environmental Goods Agreement, as well as the Information Technology Agreement and Trade in Services Agreement, Punke added.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will meet with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh on Sept. 15, following the recent Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating round in Hanoi, said the Office of the USTR in a weekly schedule release. Froman will then participate on Sept. 17 in two public events, one hosted by the No Labels Foundation. The other is drawing together lawmakers, officials and associations to boost support for the World Trade Organization Environmental Goods Agreement. From Sept. 17-18, Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will travel to Delhi to meet with Indian officials on a broad range of trade issues. USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator Darci Vetter on Sept. 18 will then travel to China with Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Michael Scuse to co-chair a sanitary and phytosanitary barriers working group, meet with an Agriculture Ministry official and participate in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Froman will also meet with the American Meat Institute and Canadian Meat Council on Sept. 19 in Washington D.C. before meeting with Indonesian Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will meet with the European Union Commissioner for Trade Karl De Gucht in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 8, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler and Chief Agriculture Negotiator Darci Vetter will also participate in agriculture market access negotiations in Tokyo from Sept. 9-10. Cutler and Vetter will meet with chief Japanese negotiator Hiroshi Oe and Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Director General Makoto Osawa.

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced country-by-country allocations of fiscal year (FY) 2015 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for imported raw cane sugar, refined sugar, specialty sugar and sugar-containing products. The TRQs are effective Oct. 1. The Department of Agriculture established in recent days the TRQ in-quota quantity for FY15 raw cane sugar is at 1,117,195 metric tons raw value (MTRV) (see 14090308). The following allocations are the same as FY14 allocations (see 13091708) and are based on historical shipment statistics:

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting membership nominations for the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa and the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee on Trade, in two separate Federal Register notices. USTR is also updating its eligibility criteria to allow lobbyists to serve on both committees. The Office of Management and Budget removed the lobbyist ban in August (see 14081217). Nominations for both the Trade Advisory Committee on Africa (here) and the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee on Trade (here) will be considered on a rolling basis.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will speak at a event on Sept. 2 hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. From Sept. 3-5, Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will hold Trans-Pacific Partnership motor vehicle negotiations with chief Japanese negotiator Takeo Mori. Froman will also attend on Sept. 4 a Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy meeting. Among other events scheduled for the week, Assistant USTR for the World Trade Organization Mark Linscott will on Sept. 4 participate in a panel on Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO, as well as the impact that may have on the Eurasian Economic Union, held in Astana, Kazakhstan.