U.S. and Panamanian officials convened in recent days the inaugural meeting of the Labor Affairs Council (LAC) under the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a Jan. 28 statement. In the coming days, officials will convene inaugural bilateral environmental meetings under the U.S.-Panama trade pact and bilateral Environmental Cooperation Agreement, said USTR.

The fourth round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations is scheduled to take place March 10-14 in Brussels, Belgium, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a Jan. 28 press release. USTR Michael Froman will also convene with European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht Feb. 17-18 in Washington D.C. to diagnose progress made in the first three rounds of talks, said USTR.

Assistant USTR for Africa Florie Liser is scheduled on Jan. 29 to participate in several Trade Africa and African Growth and Opportunity Act meetings and events closed to the press in Mombasa, Kenya, the USTR weekly schedule said. Among other USTR events scheduled this week, Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will deliver on Jan. 30 a keynote address on the U.S.-China trade and investment relationship at the Forecast 2014 conference of the U.S.-China Business Council in Washington D.C. The speech will also be closed to the press.

A tobacco carve-out in a final Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is the only means to avoid obstruction in state and local law enforcement of tobacco regulations and, in effect, prevent widespread loss of life from use of the product, said attorneys general from 44 U.S. states and territories in a Jan. 27 letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman. “Experience has shown that state and local laws and regulations may be challenged by tobacco companies that aggressively assert claims under bilateral and multilateral trade and investment agreements, either directly under investor-state provisions or indirectly by instigating and supporting actions by countries that are parties to such agreements,” said the letter. “Such agreements can enable these tobacco companies to challenge federal, state, and local laws and regulations under standards and in forums that would not be available under United States law.” The current USTR tobacco proposal fails to recognize the unique status of tobacco as a fatal product, said the letter.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is soliciting applications for candidates to serve as panelists in dispute settlement proceedings under the U.S. - Panama Trade Promotion Agreement. In addition to the dispute settlement roster, the trade agreement (here) requires the establishment of rosters of panelists for financial services, labor and environment. The qualifications necessary for successful candidates include expertise or experience in law, international trade, international trade arbitration and other matters in the agreement, along with objectivity. Candidates must submit a thorough application via www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2014-0002, by March 14.

The implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade facilitation agreement brokered in December is the body’s chief current priority, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman at a WTO mini-ministerial on Jan. 25 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. WTO officials must also resist returning to dysfunctional gridlock, and continue to make concessions to broaden its purview, said Froman. “If we are going to look at export competition in agriculture, we also need to look at the full range of agriculture issues, including market access, the role of state trading enterprises, export restraints, and all of the other factors that cause distortions in agricultural trade,” said Froman. Export competition generally refers to export subsidies and other forms of state assistance for exports.

The U.S. and the 11 other Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) participant nations will likely convene a TPP ministerial summit in February, said Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Wendy Cutler at a Center for Strategic and International Studies Jan. 22 event on the U.S.-Australian alliance. Logistical and scheduling issues prevent a summit prior to that date, said Cutler.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is requesting comments from the public and foreign governments on intellectual property (IP) rights violations in Spain, as part of an Out-of-Cycle Review. USTR is seeking specific references to laws, regulations, policy statements, executive, presidential or other orders, administrative, court or other determinations that impact IP protections. USTR is also seeking comments that incorporate data and loss estimates, accompanied by methodology used in the losses. The general public must submit comments by Feb. 14, while foreign governments are permitted to submit comments by Feb. 21. Comments must be submitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2014-0003.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is requesting public comment on U.S. antidumping measures on a host of Chinese products. China initiated World Trade Organization consultations in the dispute on Dec. 3, 2013 (here). The products include certain coated paper suitable for high-quality print graphics using sheet-fed presses, certain oil country tubular goods, high pressure steel cylinders, polyethylene terephthalate film, sheet, and strip, aluminum extrusions, frozen and canned warmwater shrimp, certain new pneumatic off--the-road tires, crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, diamond sawblades and parts thereof, multilayered wood flooring, narrow woven ribbons with woven selvedge, polyethylene retail carrier bags, and wooden bedroom furniture.

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Miriam Sapiro is scheduled to discuss Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations with European Commission Director General Jean-Luc Demarty, other European officials and stakeholders from Jan. 21-22 in Brussels, Belgium, according to an Office of the USTR weekly schedule press release. The talks are closed to the press. Chief Agricultural Negotiator Islam Siddiqui is scheduled on Jan. 21 to brief U.S. agricultural stakeholders in Washington D.C. on the outcomes of the World Trade Organization “Bali Package” brokered in December in a closed press session. USTR Michael Froman is also slated to participate in the Jan. 22 U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington D.C. to discuss ports and exports. The meeting is open to the credentialed press.