China will end an “extensive” subsidy program for Chinese exporters, after reaching agreement with the U.S. to close an ongoing dispute at the World Trade Organization, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on April 14 (here). As a result of the deal, China will stop providing free or discounted services to exporters in the textiles, apparel and footwear; advanced materials and metals (including steel and aluminum); light industry; specialty chemicals; medical product; hardware and building materials; and agriculture sectors. It will also end export-contingent cash grant programs. The agreement (here) to end export subsidies provided through China’s Demonstration Bases-Common Service Platform program resolves a WTO dispute filed by the U.S. in February 2015 (see 1502110022), according to a USTR fact sheet (here).
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke are meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom in London April 10-11 for negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). Froman and Malmstrom will meet for their next formal round of negotiations April 25 in New York.
The U.S. and European are “accelerating” negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, as U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom have met several times in the past few weeks to that end, according to a USTR official. Froman and Malmstrom have met regularly outside of formal negotiating rounds to advance “some of the more challenging aspects” of negotiations, namely, regulatory issues, the official said. USTR provided the EU with proposed language meant to “inject … transparency and opportunity” in a way that seeks to resolve regulatory divergences, he said. USTR’s overall TTIP goal for the “next few months” is to fill any holes with regard to regulatory practices and cooperation, as well as technical regulations, “reserving the more sensitive areas for end of the year,” the official said. USTR and EU are still working to conclude negotiations of the deal by the end of 2016, he said.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its annual 2016 National Trade Estimate Report (here) on March 31, which highlighted the removal of several foreign trade barriers to U.S. products that the Obama Administration secured in 2015. These include the conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, the removal of sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to U.S. meat exports to South Africa, and simplification of labeling requirements for U.S. exports to India. The report is the 31st in an annual series that highlights significant foreign trade barriers to U.S. exports, and serves as a “companion piece” to the President’s Trade Policy Agenda published by USTR, the office said.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, Brazilian Minister of External Relations Mauro Vieira and Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Armando Monteiro, on March 30 discussed the countries’ trade agendas and the global overcapacity of steel, USTR said (here). The official meeting constituted the first ever ministerial-level gathering of the U.S.-Brazil Commission on Economic and Trade Relations, USTR said. Brazil will host the next commission meeting in 2017.
Canada on March 30 filed a request for World Trade Organization consultations to challenge U.S. countervailing duties on supercalendered paper from the country, Canadian Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland announced (here). “Our government is committed to defending the interests of Canadian companies,” she said in a statement. “We are pursuing this matter in both binational and multilateral bodies to ensure trade practices are fair, allowing businesses to operate on a level playing field.” Freeland also mentioned that Canada in November requested a panel under NAFTA Chapter 19 to review the U.S. Commerce Department’s decision to impose CV rates ranging from 17.87 to 20.18 percent in October (see 1512090012).
The U.S.-Tunisia Trade and Investment Council held its sixth session on March 22 in Washington to explore ways to boost trade and investment between the two countries, including greater Tunisian use of the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said (here). The Tunisian delegation indicated its intent to ratify the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement by the end of the year and its plans to become an observer to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, USTR said. The two parties plan to meet in Tunis in 2017 to assess progress on their bilateral initiatives. Tunisia is a leading exporter of olive oil and dates to the U.S. under GSP, but some of those dates under subheading 0804.10.60 are set to lose GSP eligibility on July 1 absent a presidential waiver (see 1602290031), as competitive needs limitation (CNL) waivers on that subheading were pending as of Feb. 23. USTR didn't comment.
Several lawmakers called for stronger U.S. government enforcement efforts to protect the domestic steel industry in comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (here) filed ahead of a public hearing on the matter. The International Trade Commission is scheduled to hold the hearing on global and U.S. steel industries on April 12 (see 1603030003). More than 100 U.S. lawmakers, industry executives and employees, association representatives, and other stakeholders submitted comments in response the request for comments from the USTR, Commerce Department, and other U.S. government agencies.
Senior Obama Administration officials pushed the anticipated national security benefits they expect the Trans-Pacific Partnership will provide during a call with reporters on March 29. During the call, retired Lt. Gen. Dan Christman, who now serves as Potomac Research Group’s senior national security analyst and previously served as an assistant for the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the Administration, said that TPP is crucial in barring China from encroaching on U.S. interests and engagement in the Asia-Pacific region. If TPP is not ratified, “it’d be kicking the teeth for our friends and allies who have extended themselves to sign up to the high-standard goals that TPP represents,” Christman said. Failure to seal the U.S. commitment to ratification could also pose strategic and diplomatic setbacks, as fellow TPP members are expecting the U.S. to follow through, he said.
A group of nearly one hundred companies and associations called for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to add all eligible travel goods to the duty-free import list for all Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) beneficiary countries in a March 25 letter to USTR Director for GSP Aimee Larsen (here). Industry urged USTR to add 29 HTS subheadings for GSP duty-free treatment during a public hearing earlier this month (see 1603040042). Lower duty costs for U.S. travel goods companies should create U.S. jobs, pass savings on to consumers, and spur product innovation, the letter says. “Because the vast majority of travel goods sold in the United States are imported from just one GSP-ineligible country, designating these articles as eligible for the full range of GSP countries would further diversify sourcing, leading to job creation in communities throughout the developing world,” said the coalition, which includes several broker groups, the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the U.S. Fashion Industry Association of America, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.