The U.S. must address Japanese import restrictions for dairy products in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, alongside efforts to ensure complete tariff elimination in a final pact, said International Dairy Foods Association President Connie Tipton in a recent plea to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The group's complaint is that the Japanese Agriculture and Livestock Industries Corporation (ALIC) buys imported dairy products and sells them back to the importing companies at different rates “to account for price gaps between imported and manufactured dairy products,” says the ALIC (here). The program also administers the Japanese agricultural tariff quota. “ALIC is in total control of Japan’s dairy imports,” said Tipton. “The financial benefits of the system flow entirely to the government, after which those financial ‘gains’ are shared with Japanese dairy producers. It would be difficult to imagine an import management system that is more trade distortive than this one.” Tipton said the program could be the “Achilles heel” in TPP negotiations. Other trade groups have asked that Japanese trade programs be taken up in TPP negotiations. The National Pork Producer’s Council, for example, recently called for the removal of a Japanese trade program, the Japanese Gate System, as part of TPP talks (see 14081418).

The Obama administration should ensure the Berry Amendment, a law that requires the Defense Department to give preferential procurement treatment to U.S. companies, is kept in place through all future free trade negotiations and pacts, said American Apparel and Footwear Association President Juanita Duggan in an Oct. 24 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman (here). “As you know, the Berry Amendment is a staple provision in all U.S. [free trade agreements]," said Duggan. "Its inclusion has been a clear signal to the U.S. industry and our trading partners that the United States views the Berry Amendment as a key component of U.S. contracting law.”

Online counterfeit operations continue to inflict more harm on the fashion industry than traditional open-air marketplaces globally, and enforcement efforts against the rogue websites are failing to scale back counterfeit sales, said the American Apparel and Footwear Association in comments filed on Oct. 24 to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (here). USTR asked for industry comments on Sept. 25 to help craft its 2014 Special 301 Review of Notorious Markets (see 14092518).

Trans-Pacific Partnership ministers and heads of delegation again touted real progress in TPP negotiations following two days of high-level meetings in Sydney and five days of lower-level talks in Canberra, claiming the U.S. and the 11 other TPP partners are edging closer to striking an accord on both tariff and non-tariff arrangements. The Sydney negotiations brought all the high-ranking officials together to help "set the stage to bring the TPP negotiations to finalization," said a joint statement by the 12 nations. High-ranking officials, including U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, now have given the reins over to their chief negotiators. The U.S. chief negotiator is Barbara Weisel. President Barack Obama in June pinpointed November as a target for finalization of TPP text (see 14091028).

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will travel to Beijing on Oct. 27 for talks with Chinese officials ahead of two large trade summits before the end of 2015, the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule update (here). The Beijing stopover comes as Froman is making his way back to Washington, D.C., following the Trans-Pacific Partnership ministerial in Sydney, Australia from Oct. 25-27. U.S. officials are preparing to attend Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings from Nov. 5-11 in Beijing (here). The summit will host TPP partners, and President Barack Obama has targeted November to finalize a TPP agreement.

U.S. and Peruvian officials met in Lima on Oct. 17 to boost cooperation in combating labor rights violations, namely child and forced labor in Peru, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement. The two sides met to strengthen implementation of the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement, which went into force in 2009. The Oct. 17 meeting marks the second for the Labor Affairs Council, a working group created through the trade agreement. The U.S. and Peru aim to work together to “guarantee full implementation of the Labor Chapter” and, in particular, improve labor inspections in Peru, said the statement. Many members of the Obama administration, as well as their counterparts in the Peruvian government, attended the meeting, including Deputy Assistant USTR Carlos Romero.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has scheduled events only related to Trans-Pacific Partnership meetings in Hanoi, Vietnam and Sydney, Australia, the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule update on Oct. 17. USTR Froman will travel to Hanoi from Oct. 21-22 to meet with officials from TPP partner countries. Froman will then participate in the Sydney ministerial on Oct. 24. USTR officials are also meeting in the next few days in Canberra, Australia for other TPP talks.

U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization Michael Punke backed up statements made by the head of the WTO on Oct. 16, saying there are no indications that those members that oppose implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement are willing to reverse course. Also at the Trade Negotiating Committee meeting, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said the TFA collapse may lead to an existential crisis for the WTO (see 1410160024).

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on Oct. 14 hit back at accusations that the U.S. is attempting to weaken environmental and other protections in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, saying regulatory cooperation will be a boon to both regulators and consumers who would benefit from more efficient safety safeguards. U.S.-European harmonization could eliminate duplicative inspections and allow U.S. and European officials to dedicate their resources to inspect facilities of most pressing concern, he said, speaking in Rome. “Americans don’t want lower standards. Europeans don’t want lower standards. We won’t negotiate that kind of agreement,” said Froman. “Our legislatures wouldn’t approve such a thing. And the only reason we are negotiating this agreement is because we believe that, on balance, we share a similar commitment to strong levels of health, safety and environmental protection – even if our regulators get to the answer through somewhat different approaches.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will not reconsider its decision not to name India a Priority Foreign Country, the most severe classification of an intellectual property rights violator, as part of USTR’s Out-of-Cycle review on the country, the agency said on Oct. 14 (here). The pharmaceutical industry pushed USTR hard to slap that label on India in the agency’s Special 301 Watch List report in April. USTR asked the public for comments in recent days related to its review.