The European Union (EU) decision to eliminate duties on cable, satellite, and other set-top boxes, flat panel computer monitors and certain computer printers puts the body into compliance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) commitments, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Oct. 25. The EU adopted the resolution to eliminate duties during a council meeting from Sept. 27-28 (here).

The third round of U.S-Japanese Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, held from Oct. 21-23 in Washington, D.C., failed to broker consensus on some important issues, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said. The bilateral negotiations run parallel to TPP ministerial meetings that convene all 12 participants. “Important work remains -- particularly in the area of motor vehicles. We will follow up on a range of issues prior to our next round, the timing of which is still being coordinated,” said Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler. U.S. trade officials continue to eye the end of 2013 for conclusion of TPP negotiations (see 13100805). Some U.S. lawmakers and administration officials are pushing greater U.S. access to the Japanese auto market (see 13101704).

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Punke signed on Oct. 21 a two-year extension of an agreement with the European Union (EU) that provides U.S. beef producers with duty-free market access to the EU market for high-quality beef produced from non-hormone-treated cattle, the USTR said (here). U.S. producers will now be able to export such quality beef duty-free to the EU until Aug. 2, 2015 at a quantity of 45,000 metric tons per year. Lithuanian Ambassador to the UN Albinas Zananavicius and EU Ambassador to the WTO Angelos Pangratis joined Ambassador Punke during the signing on the agreement. USTR Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans to extend the agreement in August (here).

The U.S.-Pakistan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, signed in 2003, continues to strengthen bilateral trade and investment, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman said on Oct. 21 after meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Washington, D.C. The officials pledged to ramp up that shared relationship, the USTR said in a statement (here). Bilateral trade was valued at $5.2 billion in 2012, said USTR. U.S. exports have increased more than 300 percent since 2000, according to USTR statistics (here), noting that machinery, yarn and fabric, cotton and aircraft constitute the largest export markets. U.S. imports from Pakistan have also grown since 2000, largely in the areas of miscellaneous textile products, knit apparel, woven apparel, cotton, yarn and fabric, and leather.

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a request for comment on technical trade barriers for U.S. exports, in order to help compile a 2014 annual USTR report on the subject. Interested parties should focus on standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that may be inconsistent with international trade agreements that the U.S. is party to. This report is geared towards highlighting and resolving such barriers. The World Trade Organization Agreement on Technical Barriers defines, as such, the following barriers:

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a request for comment on sanitary and phytosanitary barriers for U.S. exports, in order to help compile a 2014 annual USTR report on the subject. Interested parties should place particular emphasis on sanitary and phytosanitary measures that may violate U.S. trade agreements. The comments will assist U.S. trade officials in reducing or eliminating relevant barriers, USTR said.

The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) presented lists of outdoor performance apparel and footwear products that should receive both tariff protections and eliminations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Senior Director for Government Affairs Alex Boian said on Oct. 17. The OIA submitted the list to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the U.S. Department of Commerce on Sept. 25, and to the Vietnamese government the following day, said Boian. The association also publicized their activities in an Oct. 17 statement to the public (here) .

The Obama Administration should oppose European Union (EU) efforts to push stringent conflict mineral regulations that will damage United States manufacturers and defy the objectives of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, said dozens of business leaders in an Oct. 9 letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. Those EU efforts may include “differential and discriminatory” rules for products imported into the EU and those produced in the EU, read the letter, endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Association of Exporters and Importers, among others.

The Obama Administration canceled the second round of negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in Brussels, previously slated to take place Oct. 7-11, due to the on-going government shutdown. The pact remains an economic priority for the administration, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman told his European Union counterpart, according to an Oct. 4 press release. “Financial and staffing constraints related to the shutdown make it impossible to send a full team of negotiators,” said the release. “USTR will work with the Commission to craft an alternative work plan that can begin once the U.S. government shutdown ends.” Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the release.

The U.S. stance on Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) tobacco market access provisions violates the World Trade Organization (WTO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and threatens the global effort to reduce tobacco use, said Executive Director of the American Public Health Association (APHA) Georges Benjamin in an Oct. 2 letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman. The U.S. should endorse the Malaysian proposal put forth in August for a tobacco carve-out in the TPP framework, said Benjamin.