U.S. trade officials underscored the Trump administration’s commitment to expanding ties with the Asia-Pacific region during a meeting with Vietnamese officials March 27 and 28 in Hanoi, according to a press release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (here). Officials from the nations met under the U.S.-Vietnam Trade and Investment Framework Agreement to discuss strengthening trade ties and outstanding trade issues, USTR said. The U.S. urged Vietnam to “promptly address” issues related to customs, agriculture, food safety, industrial goods, illegal wildlife trafficking, intellectual property, digital trade, transparency, and “good governance,” USTR said. Officials from both nations agreed to launch working groups focused on resolving bilateral issues, starting with groups on agricultural, food safety, industrial goods, IP, and digital trade issues, USTR said. Vietnam also updated the U.S. on plans to implement labor reforms.
US Trade Representative (USTR)
A U.S. Cabinet level position which serves as the President's primary representative, negotiator, and spokesperson regarding U.S. trade policy. The USTR heads the Office of the United States Trade Representative which develops and coordinates U.S. policy for international trade, commodities, and direct investments, as well as overseeing trade negotiations with other countries.
U.S. and Lao officials on March 22 held the first meeting of their bilateral Joint Trade and Investment Committee under the U.S.-Laos Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in Vientiane, Laos, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement (here). Officials from the countries discussed the importance of quickly addressing key areas including digital trade, illegal logging, agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, intellectual property, automobiles, wildlife trafficking and labor, USTR said. Officials also reviewed Laos’ implementation of the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, of the WTO Information Technology Agreement, and of Laos’ WTO accession commitments, the agency said. The two nations also discussed opportunities to advance U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations ties at the U.S.-ASEAN TIFA meeting on March 30. Bilateral trade grew more than fivefold over the past decade to $86 million, with U.S. exports increasing by more than 25 percent in the last year, USTR said.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a March 22 letter (here) to swiftly report U.S. trade representative nominee Robert Lighthizer out of committee for a Senate floor vote. “Mr. Lighthizer has led a distinguished career as a trade policy practitioner and has a reputation as a staunch advocate for American industry,” Chamber Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs Myron Brilliant wrote in the letter. “The Chamber believes he will represent the nation’s interests well as he works with international partners and addresses trade challenges at the negotiating table and before the World Trade Organization.” A committee spokesman said the committee hasn’t scheduled a vote on whether to clear Lighthizer, but said the panel would announce it 48 hours in advance.
Global steel overcapacity, agricultural market access and Canadian softwood lumber imports would be top priorities for Robert Lighthizer if the Senate confirms him to serve as U.S. trade representative, a position he expects will continue to lead the executive branch’s execution of trade policy, he said during his Senate confirmation hearing March 14. “I fully expect to have the full statutory authority that the Congress provides,” Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee. President Donald Trump named Lighthizer the nominee for the position in January (see 1701030018).
The U.S. awards more procurement to foreign firms than other top-awarding governments party to the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) do, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (here) released March 13. The U.S. opened $837 billion in GPA-covered procurement to foreign firms, while the next five largest GPA parties combined to offer $381 billion in 2010, the most recent year for which data were available, the GAO said. NAFTA parties haven’t engaged in a government procurement data exchange requirement since 2005, the report said. The GAO analyzed WTO and U.S. documents and data related to the GPA and U.S. FTAs, and interviewed Washington and Geneva officials, it said. Among other things, the GAO recommended that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative submit a proposal aiming to improve the procurement reporting by WTO parties to the WTO GPA working group on statistical reporting established by the WTO Committee on Government Procurement, and that USTR restart yearly NAFTA statistical exchanges. USTR didn’t comment.
Congressional reactions to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s statutorily mandated report on the trade policy agenda for 2017 largely hewed to party lines, with Republicans cheering the plan and some Democrats calling for more substance. Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement (here) that many of President Donald Trump’s trade objectives laid out in the report (here) submitted March 1 to Congress are “laudable,” but that “there remains little substance” about how Trump plans to approach trade during his time in office. “While some of the priorities of the Administration are laudable -- such as strictly enforcing U.S. trade laws and negotiating new and better trade deals -- the report includes no indication of how they would be achieved,” the statement says. “This omission is particularly surprising given the many statements the president has made over the past year, and continues to make, regarding American trade policy.”
Members of the U.S. beef industry pleaded to the interagency Section 301 Committee on Feb. 15 to assess proposed retaliatory tariffs in response to its allegations of EU discrimination against U.S. beef exports, while representatives of the motorcycle, rayon fiber, and confectionery industries cautioned against the move. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in December issued a list of 85 headings and subheadings from the EU that the U.S. is considering for retaliatory tariffs, including food and a smattering of other products (see 1612270025).
The Senate Finance Committee is drafting waiver legislation to smooth the path for the confirmation of U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer’s confirmation, following questions of his legal eligibility for the post because of past foreign government representation, committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said during a brief interview Feb. 6. While at the Skadden Arps law firm, Lighthizer represented the Brazilian Ministry of Industry and Commerce (see 1701250061). The Trade Act of 1974 prevents anyone who represented other governments on trade issues with the U.S. from serving as USTR or deputy USTR.
The Trump administration will examine possible improvements to all existing U.S. trade deals, including those with Trans-Pacific Partnership nations, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Jan. 31 during a press briefing (here). “You would examine those to see if we can improve upon them and then look at the other countries in there and see if there's a willingness to engage with some of those other countries,” he said. Of the 11 current TPP nations, Australia, Chile, Canada, Mexico, Peru and Singapore currently have free trade agreements with the U.S. Spicer said Senate confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, would be an important first step before the administration starts its evaluation of current trade deals. The Finance Committee has not scheduled a confirmation hearing for Lighthizer yet, and is reviewing whether he might need a waiver absolving him of any non-compliance of past trade representation he performed on behalf of the Brazilian government with a statute that prevents the USTR from having represented foreign governments in trade matters, a committee majority spokeswoman said last week (see 1701250061).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Jan. 30 sent a letter to all signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the TPP depositary, formally withdrawing the U.S. from the agreement, USTR said (here). “This letter is to inform you that the United States does not intend to become a party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Accordingly, the United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature on February 4, 2016,” Acting U.S. Trade Representative Maria Pagan said in the letter (here) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand, which serves as the TPP depositary. The U.S. "remains committed to taking measures designed to promote more efficient markets and higher levels of economic growth, both in our country and around the world. We look forward to further discussions as to how to achieve these goals.” President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 23 that instructed the USTR to withdraw from the deal (see 1701230041).