The U.S. Trade Representative is beginning reviews to consider designating Myanmar (Burma) and Laos as Generalized System of Preferences beneficiary developing countries. Myanmar had its GSP eligibility withdrawn in 1989 because of worker rights violations, while Laos has never been considered for eligibility for GSP benefits. USTR’s review will also address whether the countries should be designated as least-developed beneficiary developing countries under GSP.

The U.S. “successfully” completed bilateral consultations with Japan on its entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and supports Japan’s entry in the agreement pending a consensus vote among current TPP members, said Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis April 12. The two countries concluded “a robust package of actions and agreements with Japan in the automotive and insurance sectors, as well as other non-tariff measures,” Marantis said in a statement. U.S. lawmakers initially expressed concern about Japan joining the TPP, many citing the country’s restrictive auto trade (see 13031523). That hasn't changed with this announcement.

The U.S. and Guatemala agreed to an “ambitious and comprehensive” enforcement plan that includes deadlines for Guatemalan government actions to improve labor law enforcement, the U.S. Trade Representative said April 11. Some of the actions in the plan are:

The U.S. Trade Representative is asking for comments on whether Ecuador, the only remaining beneficiary country under the Andean Trade Preference Act, meets the eligibility criteria. The comments will contribute to a June 30 report USTR must submit to Congress about the free trade agreement, which will expire this July unless renewed by Congress. ATPA allows Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru to be considered beneficiary countries, providing they meet certain eligibility requirements. In November 2008, Bolivia's status as a beneficiary country was suspended due to counternarcotics concerns. Colombia became ineligible for beneficiary status last year, when the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement entered into force. And Peru's status was terminated in Dec. 2010, though the country now has a bilateral free trade agreement with the U.S. Unless ATPA is renewed, it will expire on July 31. Comments are due May 8 and can be submitted to www.regulations.gov.

Increasing foreign investment limits and local content requirements in countries like Brazil, Pakistan and India are potentially restricting U.S. trade, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in its annual “Section 1377” Report on telecommunications trade barriers. Released to Congress April 3, the report outlines major barriers faced by U.S. telecommunications service and equipment suppliers and details USTR plans to monitor and enforce such issues in 2013. In a statement, Acting USTR Demetrios Marantis said the recent and growing trend of localization barriers designed to boost domestic industries and intellectual property is definitely evident in the telecommunications sector. He pointed to Brazil’s finalization of local content and technology requirements imposed on new mobile wireless licensees, and the high costs Pakistan places on international companies delivering international calls to customers in the country.

New free trade agreements, World Trade Organization initiatives and bilateral talks have reduced technical, sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to trade, the U.S. Trade Representative said in two reports sent to Congress and President Obama April 1. The report on Technical Barriers to Trade addresses unwarranted or overly burdensome technical barriers, making it difficult for American businesses to sell products abroad (read the report here). The Report on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Barriers to trade focuses on unwarranted SPS barriers which block agricultural imports (here).

The U.S. is exploring a possible Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the Economic Community of West African States, Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said March 29, a day after a group of four African leaders -- from Sierra Leone, Senegal, Malawi and Cape Verde -- met with President Obama at the White House. The proposed agreement “demonstrates the United States’ ongoing support for ECOWAS, as well as the United States’ continued commitment to Africa’s regional integration and to deepening U.S. economic engagement in West Africa,” the USTR said in a statement. The agreement would create opportunities for U.S. companies to do business in West Africa and assist in addressing impediments to trade and investment in the region, the statement said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is holding a two-day public hearing on the proposed EU-U.S. trade agreement, formally called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (see 13032105). Written comments -- or notification and a testimony summary for those who want to speak at the meeting -- are due by May 10. The meeting will be May 29-30 beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET at the U.S. International Trade Commission office in Washington, D.C.

A coalition of 75 different food and agriculture groups urged President Barack Obama and other members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to allow the entry of Japan as soon as possible, calling the country’s status as America’s fourth-largest agricultural export market. Adding Japan to the negotiations -- tentatively scheduled to finish in October -- will “exponentially increase the importance of the [Trans-Pacific Partnership] to U.S. farmers and ranchers, processors and exporters as well as other sectors of the U.S. economy,” said the March 26 letter from the groups. Japan’s entry will also spur interest in the TPP among other countries in Asia and Latin America, and “send a strong signal to other nations that efforts to negotiate more open and transparent regional trading arrangements will continue, even as multilateral efforts to do so are stymied.”

The U.S. Trade Representative requested International Trade Commission investigations into the economic effects of the elimination of tariffs on goods from the EU, both in general and with a specific focus on agricultural products. The reports would be used to assist the USTR in negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement with the EU, formally announced March 20 (see 13032105).