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.
The flexibility offers tabled for the Bali round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations will disappear if trade officials fail to strike a compromise in December, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in Geneva Oct. 1. Such a failure would bring disproportionate harm to developing countries, said Froman.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued a request for comment on the operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), as amended by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. Interested parties may submit comments on any aspect of the program’s operation, including the performance of CBERA and CBTPA beneficiary countries. USTR specifically requested input on the following:
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the U.S. and European Union face obstacles but the divide over U.S. cost-benefit analysis priority and European preference for precautionary principles is a conflict of the past, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman during a Sept. 30 speech in Brussels. The partnership must tie the two economies closer through enhancing mutual commitment to rules-based trade, which will enable the two economies to strengthen rules globally in the areas of localization and the role of state-owned enterprises.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) extended the deadline for written, public comments on Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets to Oct. 25. The previous deadline was Oct. 11, after a Sept. 20 request for comment. The Notorious Markets List identifies potential Internet and physical notorious markets that exist outside the U.S. Interested parties should comment via http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR--2013--0030. For more information, including alternate means of submission, contact USTR Executive Assistant, Cecelia Jones-Davis, at (202) 395--9651.