USTR Froman Pushes ITA Expansion Progress

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman prodded the Chinese government to put more concessions on the table in Information Technology Agreement expansion negotiations, saying such progress would be a “concrete contribution to strengthening the WTO system at a time when such a boost is needed.” The World Trade Organization is dealing with the late July collapse of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. While ITA expansion talks have not yielded any real breakthrough in years of negotiations, supporters of the agreement are eyeing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which began Friday, as a window for progress (see 1411050010). Speaking at the APEC summit in Beijing Friday, Froman also praised slashed tariffs among APEC members.