User login

FTA Central

Obama Says FTA Deal Must Address Key Issues For U.S. Workers

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and President Obama in a telephone call Nov. 1 affirmed their determination to work together on resolving outstanding issues in the bilateral free trade agreement before the G-20 meeting, according to a White House statement and a Korean government official. President Lee placed the phone call to Obama as part of his effort to reach out to all heads of state participating in the G-20 meeting in Seoul to ask for their cooperation, according to...

Documents

U.S., South Korea Still Eying G-20 For FTA Resolution


Froman: U.S. Putting 'Maximum Effort' Into Resolving All Korea FTA Issues

Deputy National Security Adviser Michael Froman said today (Nov. 1) that U.S. negotiators are expending "maximum effort" in order to resolve "all of the issues" related to the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement by the time President Obama travels to Seoul next week for the Nov. 11-12 G-20 summit of world leaders. “We will be putting every effort into achieving an acceptable agreement, a satisfactory agreement by the time the president goes to the G-20,” Froman said at a press...

Documents

U.S., Morocco Discuss Strategies For Strengthening FTA


Kirk, Kim Efforts To Strike FTA Auto Deal Face Steep Demands From Stakeholders

Efforts by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon to find a fix for outstanding auto issues related to the bilateral free trade agreement are being conducted in the face of demands from stakeholders that include a stronger FTA safeguard for Korean imports, a more effective dispute settlement mechanism for non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and the enforceability of any new concessions under the FTA dispute settlement provisions, according to informed sources. Variations of these demands have...

Official: Panama Enters TIEA Talks With U.S. To Facilitate FTA Approval

In a move that could rekindle momentum for the U.S.-Panama free trade agreement, the government of Panama has dropped its opposition to negotiating a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) as demanded by the United States, according to a senior Panamanian official. Panama last week officially entered into negotiations with the U.S. for a TIEA, which has more stringent requirements for tax information exchanges than a double taxation treaty (DTT) that Panama had previously insisted on. Panama's status as a tax...

Documents

U.S., Korea Conclude FTA Discussions, Will Meet Again Prior To G-20


Weisel Sees New TPP Members In Near Term Under Two Conditions

The lead negotiator of the United States in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement this week indicated that having new countries join the negotiations at this point would be difficult, but could be achieved under two conditions. In an Oct. 25 speech, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Barbara Weisel said interested countries will have to move quickly and make the concessions necessary for a high-quality agreement in order to be considered for membership in the near term. "To the extent that those...

New Zealand TPP Negotiator Sees Time Running Out For Adding New TPP Members

Mark Sinclair, New Zealand's lead negotiator in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement this week signaled that time may be running out to add new members in the near term. As negotiators move beyond discussion of concepts to texts and to specific market access commitments, the window for bringing in other countries becomes "much, much tighter," he said in an Oct. 25 event organized by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Current TPP participants are slated to exchange market access offers...

USTR Unlikely To Table Formal Proposal In Oct. 26 Meeting On Korea FTA

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk is unlikely to table a final negotiating proposal of U.S. demands in today's meeting with South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon but instead is likely to discuss the outline of a U.S. proposal on increased market access for U.S. automobiles, according to informed sources. One private-sector source said the level of consultations between the U.S. government and the auto industry stakeholders has not progressed to the point usually foreshadows an agreement or even a final...

Pages

Not a subscriber? You can request 30 days free access to exclusive, behind-the-scenes reporting on trade policy in the Biden era.