U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman is scheduled to meet with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo, and later Vietnamese Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung, in closed sessions on March 10, the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule release. US Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke will meet with European Commission Director General for Trade Jean-Luc Demarty in a closed session in Brussels on March 10, as well. Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will also participate in two days of confidential meetings with Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Hiroshi Oe regarding TPP market access issues, along with other USTR events planned for this week.
The Guatemalan government is strengthening labor domestic protection through increasing workplace inspectors and passing legislation that ensure police assistance for inspector access and verify employer compliance with labor law, but the reforms remain insufficient, said the Office of the Trade Representative in a March 6 release. The U.S. suspended a labor dispute with Guatemala, initiated through the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement dispute mechanism, after the two countries signed a deal in April 2013 that mandated specific Guatemalan labor protection enforcement. The U.S. may choose to renew the dispute proceeding if U.S. concerns are not sufficiently addressed by April 25, said USTR.
The Iraqi government is increasingly breaking down import barriers in an effort to facilitate more commerce with the U.S. and other countries, said Iraqi representatives during the March 5 inaugural meeting of the United States-Iraq Council on Trade and Investment in Washington D.C., according to a U.S. Trade Representative press release. The U.S. actively supports Iraqi accession to the World Trade Organization, the release said. U.S. goods exports to Iraq from January to December 2013 totaled $2 billion, the release said, while U.S. imports of Iraqi goods in that period registered $13.3 billion.
U.S. insistence on including strict intellectual property rights (IPR) protections in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations threatens to derail the talks, said two panelists at a Cato Institute event on March 5, as a raft of other unresolved issues continue to obstruct on-going efforts to seal a deal (see 14022504). Industry pressure on the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to include strict IPR provisions in a final pact also jeopardizes free trade principles that ultimately stand to benefit U.S. consumers, said panelist and Cato Institute trade policy analyst Bill Watson.
The Obama Administration supports increased Moldovan economic integration with Europe and the U.S., said U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman at the outset of a bilateral meeting with a Moldovan delegation that included Prime Minister Iurie Leanca on March 3 in Washington D.C., according to a USTR press release. The United States-Moldova Joint Commercial Commission is exploring ways to enhance bilateral trade, said the release.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) removed Israel from the Special 301 Report Watch List of countries that fail to sufficiently protect intellectual property rights, said USTR Michael Froman in a Feb. 28 announcement. The Israeli passage of patent legislation fulfilled commitments the country made in a 2010 agreement with the U.S. pertaining to intellectual property, said USTR in a press release.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will attend on March 5 a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement meeting with Iraqi Minister of Trade Khairullah Hassan Babakir in Washington D.C., the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule press release. Froman will also speak on March 6 at the CBP East Coast Trade Symposium, held at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler will speak on agriculture in the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the Virginia Governor’s Conference on Agricultural Trade on March 7. The three events will be open to the press.
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman discussed on Feb. 27 increasing U.S.-Georgia bilateral trade with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Washington D.C., said USTR. The two countries share a High-Level Dialogue on Trade and Investment. “Froman emphasized that the High-Level Dialogue is intended to explore a range of options for increasing bilateral trade and investment,” said USTR. “He further emphasized that we will work to arrange discussions between technical experts and will reach out to private sector stakeholders for input on priority issues.”
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is looking to fill the position of assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for intellectual property and innovation, according to a job listing posted on Feb. 25. The position is currently held by Stan McCoy. A USTR spokeswoman did not respond for comment.
President Barack Obama intends to nominate Robert Holleyman as deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the White House announced on Feb. 26 in a press release. Holleyman served as president of the Business Software Alliance for more than 20 years before stepping down in 2013 (here). If he is confirmed, Holleyman will replace outgoing deputy USTR Miriam Sapiro (see 14012302).