The United Steelworkers and the Specialty Steel Industry of North America called on U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in recent days to oust Japan from Trans-Pacific Partnership talks unless that country immediately concedes more market access. U.S. negotiators continue to battle with Japan and Canada over tariff and non-tariff market access barriers in a final TPP deal. “The failure of the Japanese government to come forward with meaningful market access offers – despite their representations to the contrary – is unsurprising given our experiences in the Japanese market,” said USW President Leo Gerard and SSINA Chairman Carl Moulton in the March 2 letter. Gerard and Moulton also urged Froman to lock down currency rules in the agreement if the U.S. gives more time to Japan to propose more market access concessions. The USW joined other unions on the same day to reject Trade Promotion Authority (see 1503030024).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will take another hiatus in it's trade negotiation and diplomacy agenda this week, with only two outreach events planned in the days ahead, USTR said in its weekly schedule. Chief USTR agriculture negotiator Darci Vetter will address a business and food security event in Washington on March 4. Then on March 6, she will address a National Pork Producers Council meeting in San Antonio.
The Obama administration would like to see Congress renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act third-country fabric provision for “as long as possible,” as part of a quick renewal of the underlying AGOA program, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Feb. 26, during the signing of a U.S. trade pact with the East African Community (here). That bloc includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. AGOA expires on Sept. 30, and the administration has long been tight-lipped about its preferences for changes.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launched a busy week of wide-ranging trade diplomacy on Feb. 23, as USTR Michael Froman championed the U.S. trade agenda before the National Associations of Counties in Washington, the agency said in its weekly schedule. Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman is scheduled to speak to a Personal Care Products Council meeting on the same day, and Assistant USTR for the World Trade Organization Mark Linscott will address the International Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Council for International Business in Miami.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association pressed U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to make some changes to the U.S. proposal for apparel rules of origin in the Trans-Pacific Partnership in two letters to Froman over recent days. Froman affirmed in testimony before Congress in late January the U.S. still plans to put a yarn forward rule in TPP. That rule says a product must be fully manufactured, including the yarns used, in a specific free trade agreement country in order to qualify for FTA preferences.
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East Dan Mullaney will lead a meeting on the U.S.-Algeria Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in Algiers on Feb. 17, the agency said in its weekly schedule. USTR Michael Froman will tour a May Kay production facility in Dallas on Feb. 17, and then give remarks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. On Feb. 19, Froman will meet with European Union Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan in Washington, and on the same day, USTR chief agriculture negotiator Darci Vetter will speak to a Agriculture Department event. Mullaney will then lead a meeting on the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement in Rabat on Feb. 20.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative championed “groundbreaking and enforceable” proposals in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations on Feb. 11, as the Obama administration unveiled its wide-ranging plan to combat wildlife trafficking on the same day. The U.S. TPP proposals would force countries to implement their obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, said USTR Michael Froman in a statement (here). U.S. TPP negotiators are also working to ensure TPP parties combat all illegal wildlife trade, even wildlife not covered under CITES, said Froman. The USTR is developing information tools to share strategies and efforts involved in combating illegal wildlife trade with TPP parties, Froman added.
The Obama administration is challenging Chinese export subsidies across a wide-range of industries at the World Trade Organization, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and several lawmakers on Feb. 11. The U.S. asked China for WTO consultations over the subsidies, which are being provided to producers and exporters in the textile and shrimp export industries, among others, said lawmakers on Feb. 11 (here). If those talks fail, the U.S. may pursue a dispute settlement panel.
The Obama administration donated $1 million for assistance to developing countries in implementing the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, the WTO said in recent days (here). The money goes to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund. The U.S. has so far contributed more than $14 million to the fund since 2001, said the WTO. In the statement, U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke praised the facilitation agreement, which is due for implementation after more WTO members ratify it.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is taking a break this week from Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks, following heightened focus on both negotiations since the beginning on 2015. USTR Michael Froman will meet with Brazilian trade chief Armando Monteiro on Feb. 12 in Washington, and Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will speak to a Coalition of Services on the same day. Froman will then speak to the U.S.-China CEO Investment Dialogue in New York City on Feb. 13.