Jacob Kopnick

The U.S. stance on Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) tobacco market access provisions violates the World Trade Organization (WTO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and threatens the global effort to reduce tobacco use, said Executive Director of the American Public Health Association (APHA) Georges Benjamin in an Oct. 2 letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman. The U.S. should endorse the Malaysian proposal put forth in August for a tobacco carve-out in the TPP framework, said Benjamin.

Those involved in international trade were reporting relatively few impacts of the government shutdown, in its second day, but expressing concerns about the longer term. Most industry officials told us traffic continues moving through ports and airports.

The trade industry was still assessing the short- and long-term effects of the government shutdown Oct. 1. CBP had already said its core functions would not be immediately affected (see 13093028). And the U.S. National Airspace System was operating normally Oct. 1, with no reports of any impact to operations due to the government shutdown, said The International Air Cargo Association.

A bipartisan group of 60 Senators sent a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman Sept. 23 to encourage U.S. implementation of robust currency manipulation disciplines in future free trade agreements (FTAs). The Senators endorsed the U.S. push to conclude Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations but emphasized the impact currency manipulation has on U.S. employment (see 13091014).

The Department of Agriculture (USDA)-issued country of origin labeling (COOL) regime on foreign meat products and livestock is set to face critical legal tests both domestically and internationally in the coming days and weeks. Canada will likely seek to establish a WTO compliance panel over the most recent COOL iteration, issued by the USDA's Agriculture Marketing Service on May 23, when the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) reconvenes Sept. 25, said industry officials and lawyers. On Aug. 30, the U.S. rejected a Canadian request to establish another compliance panel in the dispute (here). Industry officials and lawyers said WTO procedure permits a party to reject on only one occasion.

The U.S. and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will continue to implement the ASEAN-US Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) and Expanded Economic Engagement (E3) programs, according to a statement (here) released on Aug. 21 by United States Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman and ASEAN economic ministers following a summit in Brunei. The statement said total merchandise trade between the U.S. ASEAN registered at $200.2 billion in 2012, noting the U.S. maintains its position as ASEAN’s fourth largest trade partner. Froman also met with Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma to discuss bilateral trade and investment between the U.S. and India, according to a separate press release (here).

As U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman lands in Brunei on Aug. 20 to meet high-level ministers on the sidelines of the 19^th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, the Obama Administration continues to wage a battle over “yarn forward” rule of origin for apparel that some industry players argue jeopardize U.S. market access efforts elsewhere in bilateral negotiations with Vietnam. The USTR is targeting the end of 2013 for conclusion of negotiations among all the 12 nations engaged in talks, including the recent entry of Japan.

The International Trade Commission its publishing its notice of a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order against some Samsung mobile devices that infringe Apple’s patents in the Aug. 15 Federal Register. The commission issued the orders on Aug. 9 (see 13081202). Lawyers previously told us they believed the Samsung import bans won’t be affected by U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman's veto of an ITC ruling that would have banned early-model Apple iPhones and iPad (see 13080814). The patents involved in this case aren’t standard-essential patents (SEPs). The ITC is setting bond at 1.25 percent of the entered value of infringing Samsung mobile devices during the 60-day period for USTR to review the import ban.

The U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) decision to overturn an International Trade Commission ruling surprised the patent litigation community, members of which said the decision could have substantial implications for cases on standard essential patents (SEPs) at the ITC. But lawyers said the case was unlikely to have a major impact on the bulk of the ITC's caseload, or on its larger role in patent litigation. They said the ban would likewise not impact two connected patent disputes between Apple and Samsung that are set to advance Aug. 9. Industry analysts told us the USTR decision would create more uncertainty in the industry, but wouldn't overwhelmingly affect any one company's business model.

While the decision to rescind General System of Preferences (GSP) status for Bangladesh is considered to be largely symbolic, the change is expected to reverberate among the U.S. business community, observers say. Although individual U.S. interests vary depending on scope and scale of specific relationships with Bangladeshi manufacturers, some U.S. importers will likely be forced to foster different manufacturing sources in the coming months. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) decided in late June to rescind GSP status for the South Asian nation (see 13062820) following a series of labor disasters in Bangladesh over the past year, culminating in the April 24 Rana Plaza factory fire that claimed nearly 1,200 lives