“Successful negotiation” of a U.S.-EU trade agreement would need to build on World Trade Organization “principles” for removing technical trade barriers, safety consulting and certification company UL told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in comments in docket USTR-2018-0035 submitted to help frame U.S. negotiating positions in future trade talks. UL especially wants USTR to be sure a U.S.-EU trade agreement preserves “regulators’ decision making authority,” it said. UL also urges USTR to “consider regulatory cooperation solutions beyond mutual recognition agreements as these are often problematic in implementation.” A successful trade agreement should “enhance the business and investment climate” for services in UL's wheelhouse, including “testing, inspection and certification, that help companies deliver on innovation, compliance, and market access needs as a means to reduce regulatory barriers,” it said. Many other companies and groups offered input in the same docket (see 1812110013).

Agriculture interests, including meat, wheat and grape growers, told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that they will lose market share to competitors in Australia, Europe, Canada, Mexico and Chile as those countries begin to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and EU-Japan free trade agreement. As they testified Dec. 10 on negotiating a U.S.-Japan agreement, they said speed is of the essence.

Express Association of America, which represents DHL, FedEx and UPS, said Japan has not lived up to its postal privatization commitments, and asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to make sure that Japan Post is no longer advantaged compared to private shippers. Michael Mullen, executive director of EAA, testified on Dec. 10 in front of a trade panel that's seeking public views on how to shape negotiations for a U.S.-Japan free trade agreement.

On Dec. 10, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will hear from companies, trade groups and unions on what they'd like it to push for in a U.S.-Japan trade agreement. The witness list was posted on USTR's site, and includes many more parties than testified at the U.S. International Trade Commission's Dec. 6 hearing on the potential economic effects of such a trade deal (see 1812060021).

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Dec. 6 that the government of Morocco will allow U.S. beef imports. Morocco opened its market to U.S. poultry in August. USTR estimated Morocco could buy $80 million a year in beef from the U.S. Details on the beef export requirements are on the FDA website.

The National Council of Textile Organizations announced Dec. 6 that it endorses the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and will lobby for it. The organization said the U.S. exported $11.8 billion in textiles within the NAFTA region in 2017. The trade group views USMCA as an improvement on NAFTA because the rewrite has stronger rules of origin for sewing thread, pocketing, narrow elastics and some coated fabrics; it has stronger customs enforcement rules; and it closes what NCTO calls the Kissell Amendment loophole. The Kissell Amendment, which covers Department of Homeland Security uniform and body armor purchases, allows sourcing from NAFTA partners, not just American producers. According to a 2017 GAO report, 58 percent of DHS spending on uniform body armor procurement is for imported items. If USMCA becomes law, apparel purchased for the agency will have to be sewn in the U.S., an NCTO spokesman said. He said the change affects "more than $30 million worth of contracts on an annual basis."

China used to levy a 25 percent tariff on the BMWs, Mercedeses, Lincolns and Teslas its dealers imported from the U.S., but it recently dropped tariffs on other countries' cars by 10 percentage points, and hiked tariffs on American autos to 40 percent. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in a late-afternoon announcement Nov. 28, said that's not fair. “China’s policies are especially egregious with respect to automobile tariffs," he said. "Currently, China imposes a tariff of 40 percent on U.S. automobiles. This is more than double the rate of 15 percent that China imposes on its other trading partners, and approximately one and a half times higher than the 27.5 percent tariff that the United States currently applies to Chinese-produced automobiles." He said that at the president's direction, "I will examine all available tools to equalize the tariffs applied to automobiles."

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 2019. 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 the Dominican Republic, Chile, Morocco and Peru do not qualify.

Tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and the U.S. are "entirely inconsistent with the overall goals" of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a group of more than 35 trade groups told the U.S. trade representative in a letter sent Nov 19., and should be lifted so that the new NAFTA deal can be ratified. The letter, led by the National Foreign Trade Council, said that Congress may have a more difficult time ratifying the trade deal, given how many members have complained that tariffs are not needed on our neighbors. And, while the letter does not request a global lifting of the steel and aluminum tariffs, it says that the quotas and tariffs "have caused significant harm" to American manufacturers, and that the increased costs endanger jobs across many sectors, far more than those in the mills and smelters protected by the tariffs.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative seeks comments on U.S. negotiating objectives and priorities in potential trade agreements with the European Union and the United Kingdom. “Through the agreements, the Trump administration will seek to address both tariff and non-tariff barriers and to achieve fairer, more balanced trade,” both notices said. Comments may address tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, treatment of specific goods (as identified by tariff subheading) and customs and trade facilitation issues, among other things. Comments on the EU trade deal negotiations are due Dec. 10, and a public hearing is set for Dec. 14, USTR said in one notice. Comments on the UK negotiations are due Jan. 15, with a public hearing scheduled for Jan. 29, the agency said in the other notice. Both hearings will be held in Washington.