The World Trade Organization on Aug. 17 announced the appointment of four deputies to World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General-Elect Roberto Azevedo. The selections include Yi Xiaozhun of China, Karl-Ernst Brauner of Germany, Yonov Frederick Agah of Nigeria and former U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Geneva David Shark of the United States. Azevedo will take over WTO after Pascal Lamy’s second term expires Sept. 1. The four deputies are slated to begin work Oct. 1, according to the WTO in a press release (here). Azevêdo also said Tim Yeend, Australian Ambassador to the WTO for the last three years, will become Chef de Cabinet. U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman praised the selection.
Speaking before the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Aug. 19, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman pressed Japanese officials to implement structural economic reform that will liberalize the Japanese market. Froman said bilateral U.S.-Japanese negotiations that run parallel to Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, set to undergo a 19th round this month in Brunei, provide opportunity for Japan to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued on Aug. 16 a request for comment on U.S. export and foreign direct investment barriers, in preparation for release its annual National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. The report is slated for publication in 2014. The comments, due by Oct. 22, should focus on import policies, government procurement restrictions, export subsidies, lack of intellectual property protection, services barriers, investment barriers, government-tolerated anti-competitive conduct that hurts U.S. business interests, trade restrictions impacting electronic commerce, and other barriers, such as corruption.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a request for comment and notice of public hearing regarding Russian implementation of its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments. The comment and hearing are designed to help USTR prepare its annual report to Congress on Russian WTO compliance. Russia acceded to the WTO in 2012.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a request for comment and notice of public hearing regarding Chinese compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments. The comment and hearing are designed to help USTR prepare its annual report to Congress on Chinese WTO compliance. China acceded to the WTO in 2001. The WTO recently ruled that Chinese antidumping and countervailing duties on U.S. chicken “boiler products” were in violation of WTO agreements (see 13080602).
U.S Trade Representative Mike Froman announced new negotiations between the U.S. and the East African Community (EAC) under President Obama’s Trade Africa initiative, following a U.S.-EAC Trade Ministerial Meeting on Aug. 12. After meeting with the EAC trade ministers and secretary general, Froman issued a statement (here) listing new efforts, including a U.S.-EAC decision to launch formal negotiations on a Trade Facilitation Agreement “with a view to conclude these negotiations as quickly as possible.”
The chief of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Michael Froman, will travel to the Asia-Pacific region later this month to press U.S. endorsement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), according to a USTR statement released Aug. 6. The ambassador is slated to visit Japan, a recent admission to TPP negotiations, on Aug. 19. Froman will also attend an Aug. 20-23 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meeting in Brunei. The ASEAN meetings will be held on the margins of the 19th round of TPP negotiations, USTR said.
The U.S. supports Central African economic integration and strengthened commercial ties with American industry players, Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization David Shark said July 29, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). As part of a prepared statement delivered during the WTO Trade Policy Review of the six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) (here), Shark advised the five member nations present, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Chad and Cameroon, to optimize the abundance of natural resources in the region to stimulate development.
The relaxation of tariffs on imported footwear and footwear components would kill the last of the U.S. footwear manufacturing operations, said the Rubber and Plastic Footwear Manufacturers Association's (RPFMA) lawyer Marc Fleischaker in a July 31 email to International Trade Today. Fleischaker was responding to comments from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) and its President, Matt Priest, urging consideration within Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations on the effect of higher footwear duties on U.S. jobs (see 13073011). The FDRA said higher duties haven't stemmed the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs and have prevented footwear companies from adding other U.S. jobs elsewhere in the supply chain.
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Mike Froman said ongoing negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement “hold promise for job-supporting Maine exporters and importers," during his July 29 visit to a New Balance factory. Froman said Maine held a strong interest in expanding exports to TPP partners like Malaysia and Japan, especially following Japan’s recent entry into TPP. He also acknowledged that changes to footwear tariffs could reduce New Balance’s expenses while affecting the prices of its goods and those produced by competitors. Froman said the factory visit was helpful to understand various factors that impact New Balance’s competitiveness, and committed to remain engaged with New Balance, the Maine delegation and stakeholders as TPP talks proceed.