U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman will travel to Paris, France on May 6-7 to participate in an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ministerial, along with a World Trade Organization mini-ministerial, according to a USTR schedule release. Froman will also meet with French Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Laurent Fabius on May 6, and participated in a launch of the OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index. Froman will then participate in a May 7 WTO ministerial meeting in Paris hosted by Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb. Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler will deliver a keynote address on the Obama Administration’s trade policy agenda and the Trans-Pacific Partnership at a trade policy conference organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council. Froman participated in a host of meetings with EU officials on May 5.

The Obama administration remains committed to comprehensive elimination of tariffs on industrial and agricultural products in a final Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) pact, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman told the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin on May 5. But the Office of the USTR also continues to prioritize regulatory coherence in TTIP that will provide small and medium sized business on both sides of the Atlantic greater access to markets, said Froman.

U.S. and Bangladeshi officials held an inaugural trade forum on April 28 in accordance with the bilateral Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The two sides vowed to work to improve labor conditions in Bangladesh in order to restore Generalized System of Preferences eligibility, said USTR. The U.S. aims to bolster its trade relationship with Bangladesh in the following areas, said USTR:

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has determined to not list any countries as denying fair market opportunities for U.S.products, suppliers, or bidders in foreign government-funded airport construction projects. USTR is required to publicize such countries in accordance with the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982, as amended.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman will meet on April 30 with Carlo Calenda, Italy’s Vice Minister of Economic Development, to discuss the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. Deputy Assistant USTR for Small Business Christina Sevilla will on May 1 speak at a workshop at the Embassy of Latvia on small and medium enterprises in TTIP. Ambassador Froman will on May 1 also meet with a BUSINESSEUROPE delegation to discuss TTIP issues. The events will be closed to the press. USTR recently announced the next round of TTIP negotiations will take place in May (see 14042813).

The World Trade Organization on April 25 postponed a decision on a U.S. request that the WTO create a panel on the domestic content requirements in India’s solar energy program. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated consultations in February with India over the National Solar Mission, a program USTR claims violates WTO rules. The panel request indicates the consultations failed to bridge gaps. U.S. and India previously held consultations over the issue in February 2013. “India said that it was disappointed with the U.S. request to establish a panel and believed that a mutually agreed solution was still possible,” said the WTO. “India, therefore, was not in a position to agree to the establishment of a panel. In that regard, the DSB deferred the establishment of a panel to examine this matter.” USTR Michael Froman argued the forced localization barriers hike up the cost of solar energy across the globe, including in India (see 14021102).

The U.S. will suspend for an additional four months its dispute over Guatemalan labor rights under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said on April 25. The dispute will not be terminated, however, said USTR. The Guatemalan government needs to demonstrate over the next four months it is implementing a bilateral enforcement plan by passing legislation that guarantees compensation and provides an expedited process to sanction employers that violate labor laws, said USTR. “We will continue to work closely with the Guatemalan Government in these next four months to review the steps taken and assess whether the reforms are leading to concrete improvements in Guatemalan workers’ rights,” said USTR Michael Froman.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) removed the Philippines from the Special 301 Watch List after the country implemented sufficient protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, USTR said on April 28. The country was on the list since 1994.

The fifth round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations will take place in Arlington, Va. from May 19-23, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

The Bangladeshi government must continue to improve labor rights protections through its Export Processing Zone law and other legislation in order to regain Generalized System of Preferences eligibility, said the Department of State, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Labor in an April 23 release. In accordance with an Action Plan outlined by the Obama administration in July 2013, Bangladesh must also increase inspector staff, publicly disclose inspector evaluation, protection free association of workers and improve labor conditions, said the joint statement. The Obama administration will make a preliminary determination in June on the reinstatement of Bangladesh into the GSP program, USTR said on April 22 (see 14042211).