March 2009 News

Chile - United States Agreement Allows Resumption of U.S. Beef Shipments to Chile

On March 27, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced that the United States reached an agreement with Chile that will allow the immediate resumption of American beef shipments to Chile. American shipments of beef had been halted since September 2008 pending clarification of a provision of the U.S.–Chile FTA regarding the certification of beef grade labeling. USTR and Chilean officials concluded the agreement with an exchange of letters clarifying the applicable FTA provision.

View USTR press release

U.S. Senate Confirms Gary Locke as Commerce Secretary

On March 24, the United States Senate confirmed Gary Locke as the nation’s 36th Commerce Secretary by unanimous consent. Secretary Locke will be a key member of President Obama’s economic team and will work to foster and promote American economic development at home, and will be an influential ambassador for American business and industry abroad. Locke is the first Chinese American to serve as Commerce Secretary. “I’m honored to take on this challenge and will work every day to make the Commerce Department an engine for improving our competitiveness, encouraging innovation and creating jobs,” Locke said.

As Governor of Washington, Locke led 10 productive trade missions to Asia, Mexico and Europe, significantly expanding the sales of Washington products and services. His visits are credited with introducing Washington companies to China and helping more than double the state’s exports to China to over $5 billion per year. He also opened a Washington State trade office in Germany to advance trade relations with European countries.

WTO Adopts Panel Report in China Intellectual Property Rights Dispute

On March 20, USTR Ron Kirk announced that the WTO formally ruled that several aspects of China’s legal regime for protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights are inconsistent with China’s obligations under the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). The United States brought this dispute against China because of concerns that Chinese law does not adequately provide for the protection and enforcement of copyrights and trademarks on a wide range of products. Ambassador Kirk commented, “… this dispute demonstrates …(that) the United States will not hesitate to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to ensure that our industries, authors and artists are protected – and that our trading partners observe their WTO commitments.” He added, “We also look forward to continuing bilateral discussions with China on these and other important IPR matters. A great deal of work remains for China to improve its IPR protection and enforcement regime. The United States stands ready to assist constructively in those efforts.”

View USTR press release

Senate Approves USTR Designee Ron Kirk

On March 18, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the nomination of USTR designee Ron Kirk as the nation’s 16th trade representative. As United States Trade Representative (USTR), Kirk is member of President Obama’s Cabinet and serves as the President’s principal trade advisor, negotiator and spokesperson on trade issues. He is the first African American to serve in the post. Kirk draws upon more than 25 years of diverse legislative and legal experience on local, state and federal levels. As the mayor of Dallas from 1995 – 2001, he earned a reputation for bringing together diverse coalitions to achieve results and expanded Dallas’ reach to the world through a range of trade programs, including numerous trade missions. Previously, Governor Ann Richards appointed him as Texas Secretary of State, he served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen and he was named as chair of Texas’ General Service Commission. Ambassador Kirk also served as a City of Dallas assistant city attorney.

View USTR press release

USTR Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Ashton Discuss Global Economy, Doha

View the text of the USTR press release regarding the March 19 meeting between USTR Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton. Noting that they met “at an extremely difficult time for the global economy, a time that is testing the resilience of the rules-based multilateral trading system,” Kirk and Ashton “…committed ourselves today to intensify our efforts to ensure that our bilateral trade relations and our cooperation on multilateral issues of common interest make the strongest possible contribution to global economic recovery.” The two trade officials “agreed on the importance of achieving an ambitious and balanced outcome to the WTO Doha Development Agenda as soon as possible,” and pledged to maintain the November pledge of G20 leaders to refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services.

USTR Announces Delay of Trade Action in Beef Hormones Dispute
On March 12, USTR announced that it is delaying by one month the imposition of additional duties on a modified list of EU products in connection with WTO dispute settlement rulings in the EU – Beef Hormones dispute.  Under a determination announced on January 15, 2009, the additional duties were to go into effect on March 23, 2009.  Under the delay announced March 12, the additional duties are scheduled to go into effect on April 23, 2009.  USTR spokesperson Nefeterius McPherson stated,  “USTR is currently in discussions with the European Commission on a possible interim solution that would provide benefits for U.S. beef producers.  These discussions have made progress… USTR has decided to delay the trade action in order to give this process every possibility of success.”  Under the decision announced March 12, most of these changes will be delayed for one month, and will now be effective on April 23.  However, in order to respect commercial arrangements that have been made in the period since January 15, there will be no delay in the March 23, 2009, effective date of the deletion of products from the list of products subject to additional duties.  The details of the delay in the trade action are set out in a Federal Register notice that shortly will be posted on USTR’s website. View USTR press release

Obama Administration Delivers 2009 Trade Report to Congress

On March 2, the Obama Administration delivered to Congress the 2009 Trade Policy Agenda and the 2008 Annual Report of the President of the United States on the Trade Agreements Program. According to the report’s introduction, President Obama’s trade agenda will contribute to achieving the objectives of improving the living standards of American families while “reorienting our economy to meet today’s challenges – energy, the environment, and global competitiveness.” While noting that “Eliminating barriers to trade in the face of serious turmoil in our economy and financial markets will be a challenge,” the report went on to state, “The President will use all available tools to address [the] economic crisis including achieving access to new markets for American businesses large and small.” Regarding bilateral agreements, the report stated, “We are in the process of developing a plan of action to address the pending trade agreements in consultation with Congress. We hope to move on the Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA) relatively quickly. And we plan to establish benchmarks for progress on the Colombian and South Korean FTAs.”

USITC Launches New Investigation on Possible Modification to U.S.-Singapore FTA Rules of Origin

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) is seeking input from all interested parties on a newly initiated investigation concerning proposed modifications of the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA) rules of origin. The investigation, Certain Yarns and Fabrics FY 2009: Effect of Modification of the U.S.- Singapore Free Trade Agreement Rules of Origin, was requested by USTR in a letter received on January 28, 2009. USITC will provide advice on the probable effect of the proposed USSFTA rules of origin modifications on U.S. trade and on domestic producers of the affected yarns and fabrics. Details on the products covered by the investigation can be obtained from the attachment to the request letter. USITC expects to submit its advice to the USTR by August 4, 2009. For information on submitting comments, please refer to the USITC press release.

Request for Public Comments Regarding Andean Trade Preference Act Beneficiary Countries

USTR is requesting the views of interested parties on whether the designated beneficiary countries are meeting eligibility criteria for the Andean Trade Preference Act. This information will be used in the preparation of a report to the Congress on the operation of the program. Public comments are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 26, 2009. For more information, including details regarding how to submit comments, please refer to the Federal Register notice.