Froman to Stopover in Beijing Ahead of US-China Trade Summits

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will travel to Beijing on Oct. 27 for talks with Chinese officials ahead of two large trade summits before the end of 2015, the Office of the USTR said in a weekly schedule update (here). The Beijing stopover comes as Froman is making his way back to Washington, D.C., following the Trans-Pacific Partnership ministerial in Sydney, Australia from Oct. 25-27. U.S. officials are preparing to attend Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings from Nov. 5-11 in Beijing (here). The summit will host TPP partners, and President Barack Obama has targeted November to finalize a TPP agreement.

Newly-minted Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman will also travel to Beijing from Oct. 14-16 to prepare for the annual U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. The U.S. will host the JCCT in Chicago, Illinois from Dec. 16-18, the Office of the USTR and the Commerce Department announced on Oct. 27 in an emailed statement. Some U.S. industry representatives are pushing for near-term progress in Information Technology Agreement expansion negotiations (see 14092912). The U.S. and China are two of the 70 nations involved in the expansion talks, but both sides blame each other for not putting forward enough concessions on the table (see 13112217).

On Oct. 30, Froman will also deliver speeches to the Washington Ideas Forum and another trade and investment event, hosted in part by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Office of the USTR did not schedule any other public events this week.