Jacob Kopnick

U.S. and Jordanian officials met on July 2 to review implementation of the labor mandates in the U.S.-Jordan free trade agreement, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The two sides signed the Labor Implementation Plan in 2013 to address anti-union discrimination against foreign workers and the conditions of their accommodations in Jordanian garment factories, along with gender discrimination and harassment. USTR did not elaborate on specific negotiation outcomes or topics during the meeting.

The U.S. and South Korea harmonized effective July 1 labeling regimes for organic processed products certified in both countries, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said. The equivalency agreement is intended to foster greater market opportunities in South Korea for U.S. organic farmers, processors, and businesses, by eliminating the need for two sets of fees, inspections, and paperwork, along with other barriers, said USTR. The agreement covers organic condiments, cereal, baby food, frozen meals, milk, and other processed products, USTR said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the South Korean National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service will likely lead oversight on the agreement, the agency added.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will continue to work with Tunisian officials to address organic product certification, strengthen cooperation in sectors such as olive oil and handicrafts, and collaborate on quick implementation of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation, said USTR in a June 17 statement. A U.S. delegation, led by Assistant USTR for Europe and the Middle East Daniel Mullaney, met with Tunisian counterparts in Tunis on June 16 under the U.S.- Tunisia Trade and Investment Council framework. During the summit, the officials discussed market access, services, investment, and intellectual property rights. USTR did not elaborate on the details of the negotiations. USTR pledged to convene with Tunisian officials to review bilateral progress before the end of 2014.

U.S. trade officials met with Central Asian counterparts on June 10 to discuss customs coordination, sanitary measures and other bilateral trade and investment issues, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement. The meetings, held under the U.S.-Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, targeted the facilitation of increased trade flows through 2015, said USTR. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan are partners in the agreement. The Office of USTR did not elaborate further on details of the meetings.

The U.S. agricultural industry continues to face a multitude of non-tariff trade barriers, such as unscientific sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and geographical indications, to exporting agricultural goods to the European Union and Asia-Pacific region, industry representatives told lawmakers at a June 11 House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade hearing. The representatives urged the lawmakers to apply pressure on the Obama administration to remove the barriers through Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

The Obama administration must include robust labor protection provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in order to safeguard U.S. workers and manufacturing, said several House lawmakers and union officials in a May 29 press call with reporters. The implementation legislation for a potential final agreement will fail to pass the House without those labor protections, said the lawmakers and officials. More than 150 House Democrats, led by those lawmakers on the press call, urged in a May 29 letter (here) to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman for TPP mandates that require participant nation requirements with international core labor standards.

The Obama administration should consider taking a “two-by-four” to Congress in order to power through Trade Promotion Authority, said former U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) William Brock at a National Foreign Trade Council event on May 28. The Office of the USTR likely will not float sensitive concessions to trade partners if any “nickel and dime” amendment could alter the agreement and derail implementation. “Our trade negotiators are going to be better at getting a good deal if they have a full deck,” said Brock. “You don’t have a full deck if you don’t have the authority to bring an agreement to Congress [that can be voted on] up or down without amendment.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is poised to permit less stringent apparel rules of origin in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) than the agency has in many other U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs), said industry executives close to the negotiations. U.S. textile and apparel importers are hoping to see more flexibility in TTIP rules of origin, considering the relatively low threat of European Union apparel exports to U.S. domestic industry, the executives said in interviews.

U.S. and European Union trade officials convened in Arlington, Va. on May 19 for the first of five days of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations. The officials are targeting progress on regulatory coherence, intellectual property rights and labor gaps, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Negotiators are set to begin work on May 20 on services and investment, technical barriers to trade, agricultural market access and rules of origin chapters, as well, said USTR.

The U.S. asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body to establish a panel to evaluate the legality of Indonesian licensing restrictions on horticultural products, animals, and animal products, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman said on May 8. The WTO previously established a panel on the matter in April 2013, after bilateral consultations failed to broker compromise (here). The U.S. is now requesting additional consultation to address recent changes to the licensing requirements, said the Office of the USTR.