Froman Pushes Chinese Hi-Tech Tariff Concessions, Eyes November Outcome

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is urging China to make preliminary concessions toward expanding the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) aimed at restarting stalled negotiations prior to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) convention in November, said USTR chief Michael Froman during a July 7 conference call with reporters. Froman said China is able to concede valuable products for tariff elimination as part of a future ITA expansion deal during the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue this week in Beijing. “This is an area where concrete progress would have potential positive spillover effects into other negotiations between us, whether it’s the bilateral investment treaty discussions or other international negotiations,” said Froman. “We think it's well within China’s grasp to make progress at the [Dialogue] if they so choose to do so.” U.S. and Chinese officials began negotiations about a year ago.

Chinese concessions in the days and weeks ahead could lead ITA partners to broker a deal during the APEC meetings in November, said Froman. The latest ITA expansion talks ground to a halt in the lead up to the World Trade Organization Bali ministerial meeting in December 2013 (see 13112217). In the wake of the collapse, both sides traded jabs over insufficient concessions (see 13112727). But the two countries made progress towards narrowing gaps during the APEC meeting in May and during the months since, said Froman. The ITA hasn't broadened its list of duty exempt products since its 1996 inception despite many IT industry developments. The U.S. and China in the coming days in Beijing will also discuss the Environmental Goods Agreement and the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, said Froman. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also recently announced that Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden will lead the USDA delegation at the Strategic & Economic Dialogue (here).