U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, just before she signed a memorandum of cooperation with Japan on fighting forced labor (see 2301050039), suggested that auto or auto parts imports could be in CBP crosshairs after a British university alleged that many cars could have content touched by Chinese forced labor.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Japan’s Minister for Economy, Trade, and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi will sign a Memorandum of Cooperation to launch a task forced on the promotion of human rights and international labor standards in supply chains on Jan. 6, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Terry McCartin, along with other U.S. officials, will travel to Taipei for in-person negotiations for the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, which has similar objectives to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. The negotiations are scheduled for Jan. 14-17.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced eligibility for “trade surplus” tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for sugar originating in certain free trade agreement countries for calendar year 2023. USTR found Colombia, Panama and five members of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) eligible for the TRQ. The agency found that Chile, the Dominican Republic, Morocco and Peru do not qualify.

Two readouts from the administration say that Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jayme White and Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves told a top Canadian official that they are concerned about proposed legislation that would affect digital streaming services, tax digital services and, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, discriminate against U.S. businesses.

As World Trade Organization members continue to struggle to decide how to change the trade-related intellectual property waiver conditions, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai asked the International Trade Commission to produce a study on how the global market for vaccines, diagnostics and treatment has been affected by the current approach on intellectual property. The USTR said stakeholders and members of Congress disagree, "even on basic questions around whether there is adequate global supply of diagnostics and therapeutics. These interested parties also diverge on whether extending these flexibilities to diagnostics and therapeutics would in fact improve access, particularly in non-high-income countries, or undermine innovation."

Representatives from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department presented draft negotiating text on trade facilitation, agriculture, services, domestic regulation, and transparency and good regulatory practices in the trade pillar, as well as text on supply chains, during negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in Brisbane, Australia, Dec. 10-15.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments by Jan. 30 that identify policies or practices that would put a country on the intellectual property watch list, it said in a Federal Register notice. It is not planning a public hearing, so commenters will be asked to respond to written questions from administration officials.

Ambassador Maria Pagan, who leads the U.S. delegation at the World Trade Organization, defended the U.S. during the two-day session in Geneva that began Dec. 14. All countries in the WTO must answer questions about their policies every few years.

A proposal by the U.S. to the EU on how to structure trade preferences for clean, fairly traded steel and aluminum says that members of a global climate club would agree that when they exported steel or aluminum to other member countries, if their plants were at or below the importer's plant emission standards, they would enter with no tariffs, but if their plants were above the standards, they would have to pay a carbon tax.