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.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Mike Froman and Bangladesh Ambassador to the U.S. Akramul Qader agreed July 25 to begin talks on actions to be taken towards addressing worker rights and safety in Bangladesh, USTR said in a press release. Officials from USTR and the Departments of Labor and State plan to discuss how to implement the Bangladesh Action Plan (see 13072215) with officials from Bangladesh, said the press release. USTR said Froman and Qadar also discussed the latest developments in worker rights, such as recent labor law reform.

Officials reported strong progress during the 18th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, which concluded July 25, said a press release from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Officials also welcomed Japan, which entered the negotiations as the 12th participating country just days before on July 23. With Japan’s entry, USTR said that TPP countries now account for “nearly 40 percent of global GDP and about one-third of all world trade.”

The Office of the United State Trade Representative (USTR) is now accepting petitions to modify the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) product list and to waive competitive need limitations (CNLs), according to a USTR public notification issued July 26. In order to be considered for the 2013 Annual GSP Review, the GSP Subcommittee of the USTR-chaired Trade Policy Staff Committee must receive relevant product petitions by Oct. 4 and relevant waiver petitions by Nov. 22. Interested parties should submit petitions via http://www.regulations.gov with the docket number USTR-2013-0024.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) rescheduled its public hearing to investigate the intellectual property policies and practices of the Ukrainian government that resulted in Ukraine’s May 2013 identification as a Priority Foreign Country (see 13050201). According to the Trade Act of 1974 (here), countries that “deny adequate and effective protection for IPR” and “have the greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on the relevant U.S. products” should be designated a PFC.

48 associations submitted a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman on July 23 that emphasized the importance of “further trade liberalization” in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, a press release said. Signatories representing small to large domestic enterprises in every major industry said that liberalization was needed both at home and abroad. The associations also said that further liberalization was needed across sectors like textiles and apparel, sugar, and footwear “that continue to receive relatively substantial protection from import competition compared to most other sectors.”