Press Release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, January 15, 2009Footnote 1
United States and Iceland Sign “Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum” Agreement
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East Chris Wilson and Icelandic Minister of Industry and Energy Össur Skarphedinsson today signed in Reykjavik the U.S.-Iceland Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement, which will provide a forum for expanding and strengthening bilateral trade and investment relations between the United States and Iceland.
“Today's signing of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement is a part of a comprehensive U.S. effort to support the Icelandic Government, and will provide a vehicle for deepening and broadening already strong U.S.-Icelandic economic relations,” Wilson said.
“We will use the Forum to pursue initiatives in specific areas, with a view to concluding agreements or other arrangements that offer real opportunities for workers, farmers, service providers, manufacturers and consumers in our two countries.”
“We will continue our dialogue with U.S. and Icelandic stakeholders as we develop an initial work program for the Forum. We will also continue our already close cooperation in the World Trade Organization,” continued Wilson.
Two-way goods trade between the United States and Iceland was $835 million in 2007. U.S. goods exports to Iceland in 2007 totaled $630 million, including aircraft, inorganic chemicals, vehicles, and machinery. U.S. exports of agricultural products to Iceland totaled $19 million.
Press Release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, January 16, 2009Footnote 2
United States Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab announced today that the United States was requesting World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement consultations with the European Union under the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 regarding the EU's ban on the import and marketing of poultry meat and poultry meat products processed with pathogen reduction treatments judged safe by both U.S. and European food safety authorities.
“The poultry treatments at issue have been widely and safely used in the United States for many years,” Schwab said.
“The EU's own scientists have repeatedly found these treatments not only to be safe, but effective. We have tried to address this issue through dialogue with the EU for more than eleven years, and neither the European Commission nor EU Member States have offered any legitimate, science-based reason for continuing to block our poultry.”
The United States would obviously still prefer that this matter be resolved without the need for lengthy and costly litigation. “In taking this step,” Schwab continued, “the United States seeks to move the process forward and will act to defend poultry and other U.S. agricultural exports against non-science based restrictions imposed by our trading partners.”
Statement by U.S. Trade Representative Schwab, January 16, 2009Footnote 3
Regarding Entry into Force of the Peru FTA
With the President's issuance of a proclamation to implement the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement as of February 1, 2009, I am very pleased to be able to celebrate the entry into force of this important trade agreement.
We have worked closely with the Government of Peru to ensure that the obligations and responsibilities of each party have been met under this Agreement. We have engaged in this effort as true partners, and I want to thank President Garcia and his government for their hard work and dedication over the course of the last year.
I want to thank those in Congress who worked with the Administration to develop a bipartisan trade policy template, paving the way for the approval of the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. This is the first free trade agreement (FTA) in force that will reflect the enhanced labor and environmental standards set out in the May 10, 2007, agreement between the Administration and the congressional leadership.
Today's proclamation marks an important milestone in our relationship with Peru, one of our strongest allies in Latin America. For the first time in history, American exporters will be able to sell the vast majority of their products into the Peruvian market duty-free. Through this Agreement, we have seized the opportunity to lead by strengthening our partnership and helping promote economic growth, prosperity and well being in Peru and throughout the hemisphere.
Trade and trade expansion will be a vital component of our effort to restore economic growth in the global economy. The additional market openness brought by this agreement will enhance our trade and prosperity in the future and support existing and future high-paying American jobs, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture.
White House Statement, January 16, 2009Footnote 4
To Implement the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement
1. On April 12, 2006, the United States entered into the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (the “Agreement”), and on June 24 and June 25, 2007, the Parties to the Agreement signed a protocol amending the Agreement. Congress approved the Agreement as amended in section 101(a) of the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act (the “Implementation Act”) (Public Law 110-138, 121 Stat. 1455) (19 U.S.C. 3805 note).
2. Section 105(a) of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to establish or designate within the Department of Commerce an office that shall be responsible for providing administrative assistance to panels established under chapter 21 of the Agreement.
3. Section 201 of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to proclaim such modifications or continuation of any duty, such continuation of duty-free or excise treatment, or such additional duties, as the President determines to be necessary or appropriate to carry out or apply Articles 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 3.3.13 and Annex 2.3 of the Agreement.
4. Section 201(d) of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to take such action as may be necessary in implementing the tariff-rate quotas set forth in Appendix I to the Schedule of the United States to Annex 2.3 of the Agreement to ensure that imports of agricultural goods do not disrupt the orderly marketing of commodities in the United States.
5. Consistent with section 201(a)(2) of the Implementation Act, Peru is to be removed from the enumeration of designated beneficiary developing countries eligible for the benefits of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) on the date the Agreement enters into force. Further, consistent with section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the “1974 Act”) (19 U.S.C. 2483), I have determined that other technical and conforming changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) are necessary to reflect that Peru is no longer eligible to receive the benefits of the GSP.
6. Section 203 of the Implementation Act sets forth certain rules for determining whether a good is an originating good for the purpose of implementing preferential tariff treatment provided for under the Agreement. I have decided that it is necessary to include these rules of origin, together with particular rules applicable to certain other goods, in the HTS.
7. Section 203(o) of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to determine that a fabric, yarn, or fiber is or is not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in the United States and Peru; to establish procedures governing the request for any such determination and ensuring appropriate public participation in any such determination; to add any fabric, yarn, or fiber determined to be not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in the United States and Peru to the list in Annex 3-B of the Agreement in a restricted or unrestricted quantity; to eliminate a restriction on the quantity of a fabric, yarn, or fiber within 6 months after adding the fabric, yarn, or fiber to the list in Annex 3-B of the Agreement in a restricted quantity; and to restrict the quantity of, or remove from the list in Annex 3-B of the Agreement, certain fabrics, yarns, or fibers.
8. Section 208 of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to take certain enforcement actions relating to trade with Peru in textile and apparel goods.
9. Subtitle B of title III of the Implementation Act authorizes the President to take certain actions in response to a request by an interested party for relief from serious damage or actual threat thereof to a domestic industry producing certain textile or apparel articles.
10. Executive Order 11651 of March 3, 1972, as amended, established the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), consisting of representatives of the Departments of State, the Treasury, Commerce, and Labor, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, with the representative of the Department of Commerce as Chairman, to supervise the implementation of textile trade agreements. Consistent with section 301 of title 3, United States Code, when carrying out functions vested in the President by statute and assigned by the President to CITA, the officials collectively exercising those functions are all to be officers required to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
11. Presidential Proclamation 7971 of December 22, 2005, implemented the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (USMFTA). The proclamation implemented, pursuant to section 201 of the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the “USMFTA Act”) (Public Law 108-302, 118 Stat. 1103) (19 U.S.C. 3805 note), the staged reductions in rates of duty that I determined to be necessary or appropriate to carry out or apply certain provisions of the USMFTA, including Articles 2.5 and 2.6. The proclamation inadvertently omitted two modifications to the HTS necessary to carry out the provisions of Articles 2.5 and 2.6 of the USMFTA. I have determined that technical corrections to the HTS are necessary to provide the intended tariff treatment under Articles 2.5 and 2.6 of the USMFTA.
12. Presidential Proclamation 8039 of July 27, 2006, implemented the United States-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (USBFTA). The proclamation implemented, pursuant to section 201 of the United State-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the “USBFTA Act”) (Public Law 109-169, 119 Stat. 3581), the staged reductions in rates of duty that I determined to be necessary or appropriate to carry out or apply certain provisions of the USBFTA, including Articles 2.5 and 2.6. The proclamation inadvertently omitted two modifications to the HTS necessary to carry out the provisions of Articles 2.5 and 2.6 of the USBFTA. I have determined that technical corrections to the HTS are necessary to provide the intended tariff treatment under Articles 2.5 and 2.6 of the USBFTA.
13. Presidential Proclamation 8331 of December 23, 2008, implemented the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) for trade with Costa Rica. The proclamation implemented, pursuant to section 201 of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (the “CAFTA-DR Act”) (Public Law 109-53, 119 Stat. 467) (19 U.S.C. 4031), the duty treatment necessary to carry out or apply Articles 3.3 and 3.27, and Annexes 3.3 (including the schedule of United States duty reductions with respect to originating goods) and 3.27, of the CAFTA-DR. I have determined that technical corrections to the HTS are necessary to provide the intended duty treatment under the CAFTA-DR.
14. Section 604 of the 1974 Act, as amended, authorizes the President to embody in the HTS the substance of relevant provisions of that Act, or other Acts affecting import treatment, and of actions taken thereunder, including the removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of any rate of duty or other import restriction.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, acting under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including but not limited to section 604 of the 1974 Act; sections 105(a), 201, 203, 208, and subtitle B of title III of the Implementation Act; and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and having made the determination under section 101(b) of the Implementation Act necessary for the exchange of notes, do hereby proclaim:
(1) In order to provide generally for the preferential tariff treatment being accorded under the Agreement, to set forth rules for determining whether goods imported into the customs territory of the United States are eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the Agreement, to provide certain other treatment to originating goods of Peru for the purposes of the Agreement, to provide tariff-rate quotas with respect to certain originating goods of Peru, to reflect Peru's removal from the enumeration of designated beneficiary developing countries for purposes of the GSP, and to make technical and conforming changes in the general notes to the HTS, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex I of Publication 4058 of the United States International Trade Commission, entitled, “Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to Implement the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement”, which is incorporated by reference into this proclamation.
(2) In order to implement the initial stage of duty elimination provided for in the Agreement and to provide for future staged reductions in duties for originating goods of Peru for purposes of the Agreement, the HTS is modified as provided in Annex II of Publication 4058, effective on the dates specified in the relevant sections of such publication and on any subsequent dates set forth for such duty reductions in that publication.
(3) The amendments to the HTS made by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this proclamation shall be effective with respect to goods entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the relevant dates indicated in Annex II to Publication 4058.
(4) The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to exercise my authority under section 105(a) of the Implementation Act to establish or designate an office within the Department of Commerce to carry out the functions set forth in that section.
(5) The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is authorized to exercise my authority under section 201(d) of the Implementation Act to take such action as may be necessary in implementing the tariff-rate quotas set forth in Appendix I to the Schedule of the United States to Annex 2.3 of the Agreement to ensure that imports of agricultural goods do not disrupt the orderly marketing of commodities in the United States. This action is set forth in Annex I of Publication 4058.
(6) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority under section 203(o) of the Implementation Act to determine that a fabric, yarn, or fiber is or is not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in the United States and Peru; to establish procedures governing the request for any such determination and ensuring appropriate public participation in any such determination; to add any fabric, yarn, or fiber determined to be not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in the United States and Peru to the list in Annex 3-B of the Agreement in a restricted or unrestricted quantity; to eliminate a restriction on the quantity of a fabric, yarn, or fiber within 6 months after adding the fabric, yarn, or fiber to the list in Annex 3-B of the Agreement in a restricted quantity; and to restrict the quantity of, or remove from the list in Annex 3-B of the Agreement, certain fabrics, yarns, or fibers.
(7) The CITA is authorized to exercise my authority under section 208 of the Implementation Act to exclude certain textile and apparel goods from the customs territory of the United States; to determine whether an enterprise's production of, and capability to produce, goods are consistent with statements by the enterprise; to find that an enterprise has knowingly or willfully engaged in circumvention; and to deny preferential tariff treatment to textile and apparel goods.
(8) The CITA is authorized to exercise the functions of the President under subtitle B of title III of the Implementation Act to review requests, and to determine whether to commence consideration of such requests; to cause to be published in the Federal Register a notice of commencement of consideration of a request and notice seeking public comment; to determine whether imports of a Peruvian textile or apparel article are causing serious damage, or actual threat thereof, to a domestic industry producing an article that is like, or directly competitive with, the imported article; and to provide relief from imports of an article that is the subject of such a determination.
(9) The CITA, after consultation with the Commissioner of Customs (the “Commissioner”), is authorized to consult with representatives of Peru for the purpose of identifying particular textile or apparel goods of Peru that are mutually agreed to be handloomed fabrics, handmade goods made of such handloomed fabrics, folklore goods, or handmade goods that substantially incorporate a historical or traditional regional design or motif, as provided in Article 3.3.12 of the Agreement. The Commissioner shall take actions as directed by the CITA to carry out any such determination.
(10) The USTR is authorized to fulfill my obligations under section 104 of the Implementation Act to obtain advice from the appropriate advisory committees and the United States International Trade Commission on the proposed implementation of an action by presidential proclamation; to submit a report on such proposed action to the appropriate congressional committees; and to consult with those congressional committees regarding the proposed action.
(11) The USTR is authorized to modify U.S. note 29 to subchapter XXII of chapter 98 of the HTS in a notice published in the Federal Register to reflect modifications pursuant to paragraph (6) of this proclamation by the CITA to the list of fabrics, yarns, or fibers in Annex 3-B of the Agreement.
(12) In order to make technical corrections necessary to provide the intended duty treatment under Articles 2.5 and 2.6 of the USMFTA, Articles 2.5 and 2.6 of the USBFTA, and the CAFTA-DR, the HTS is modified as set forth in Annex III of Publication 4058.
(13) All provisions of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that are inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation are superseded to the extent of such inconsistency.
Press Release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, February 26, 2009Footnote 5
Acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier announced today that an LCIA tribunal (formerly the London Court of International Arbitration) has issued its decision on a remedy in the softwood lumber arbitration in which Canada was found to have breached the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement between the United States and Canada (SLA) by failing to calculate quotas properly during the first six months of 2007.
“We are pleased with the tribunal's decision,” said Acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier. “It confirms the view of the United States that the SLA is an enforceable agreement. This dispute settlement proceeding is now at an end. We look forward to Canada working quickly to cure the breach, consistent with the decision of the tribunal.”
Ambassador Allgeier continued, “I am grateful to the many officials of the United States government, in particular the attorneys and staff of the Department of Justice, for their tireless work on this dispute, which was key to securing this positive result.”
In the decision released today, the tribunal agreed with the United States that Canada must provide a compensatory remedy for violating the terms of the SLA. The tribunal determined that Canada must cure the breach within 30 days. The tribunal further determined that, as an appropriate adjustment to compensate for the breach, Canada must collect an additional 10 percent ad valorem export charge on softwood lumber shipments from Eastern Canadian provinces until CDN $68.26 million (US $54.8 million at current exchange rates) has been collected.
Under the provisions of the SLA, while Canada has some flexibility in determining an appropriate means of curing the breach, Canada must implement the compensatory adjustments determined by the tribunal unless Canada cures the breach some other way. If Canada does not take action in accordance with the tribunal's decision or otherwise cure the breach within 30 days, the United States is authorized by the SLA to impose the additional charges itself.
Statement by Secretary of the Treasury Geithner, March 14, 2009Footnote 6
I am very pleased to be in the UK for the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting. I want to compliment Chancellor Darling for his leadership and the excellent work of his staff in preparing for this meeting.
We met to prepare a comprehensive set of recommendations for the meeting of the heads of state early next month. This is a global crisis and it requires a coordinated global response. We have a strong consensus on the need for both recovery and reform so that we never face a crisis like this again.
An effective response to restore global growth requires several things. It requires a sustained commitment to macroeconomic stimulus and pro-growth policies on a scale commensurate with the severity of the problem. It requires aggressive actions to fix our financial systems and get credit flowing again. It requires substantial support from the international financial institutions targeted to those emerging markets and developing economies most affected by the crisis. This means a significant increase in resources—deployed more quickly—to provide financing in support of counter-cyclical fiscal policies, bank repair and recapitalization to increase lending, trade finance, and support to the poorest countries that are most impacted by the crisis.
Alongside these actions must come a clear commitment, when recovery is firmly established, to return to fiscal sustainability and to unwind the extraordinary policy actions needed to restore economic growth and solve the financial crisis.
You are seeing the world move together at a speed and on a scale without precedent in modern times. All the major economies are putting in place substantial fiscal packages. The stronger the response, the quicker recovery will come. That is why the United States has passed the largest, most comprehensive recovery package in decades.
We are each moving preemptively to get ahead of the intensifying pressures that you see across national financial systems and we released today a common framework for restoring the flow of credit.
In the United States, we have launched a new program to help revive the credit markets. We have initiated a forward-looking assessment of the potential capital needs of our major financial institutions, and outlined the terms of the capital assistance program that will provide a backstop for those institutions that need additional capital. We will soon outline our program to use market mechanisms to help clean up the legacy assets on bank balance sheets and bring in private capital alongside government financing to help restart markets for these assets.
As President Obama has said, we will bring the full force of the federal government to ensure that the major banks are able to meet their commitments so that they continue to play critical roles in market functioning and in providing credit to households and businesses.
The G-20 has agreed to the need for mobilizing more resources for the international financial institutions to address the risks posed by the pull back of capital flows and the fall in external demand. The G-20 supports our proposal for a substantial increase to emergency IMF resources through a major enlargement of the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and expansion of its membership. We have asked the World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks to leverage existing resources by flexible use of their balance sheets to help meet financing needs.
Now turning to reform. The G-20 has agreed on a common framework of concrete changes to the international financial architecture. Risk does not respect national borders. We must establish a much stronger form of oversight and clear rules of the game, more evenly enforced across the international financial system. This will require comprehensive changes both at the national and international levels.
The United States will soon be releasing a comprehensive framework of regulatory reform. Our strategy underscores our commitment to encourage a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom; a global move to higher standards.
We have committed to broad principles to guide the reform of the financial system:
First, all institutions that are important to the stability of the financial system should come within a much stronger framework of oversight, with clearer rules of the game that are enforced more evenly and consistently across countries.
Second, all markets, including the derivatives markets, need to be subject to standards for stability and a framework for disclosure.
Third, looking forward we need to provide much stronger cushions of stability to ensure that the framework of capital requirements and accounting standards dampens rather than amplifies future financial crises.
Fourth, we must promote financial market integrity. We welcome Switzerland's announcement to increase information sharing as part of the global effort to end tax evasion.
Alongside this framework, we have expanded membership of the Financial Stability Forum, and we should elevate its role in the international system so that the global economy has—alongside the original Bretton Woods institutions of the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO—a strong institution able to lead these critical efforts to a more robust framework of oversight and standards for the global financial system.
We are committed to accelerating the timetable of reform of the broader governance structure of the international financial institutions to increase the role of developing countries in these institutions.
Let me just conclude by saying that we have a very broad basis of consensus globally on the need to act aggressively to restore growth to the global economy and a commitment to move together to address the evolving crisis.
U.S. workers are among the most productive in the world, but U.S. companies need open and growing markets. As President Obama stressed this week, a healthy United States requires a healthy global economy. Our recovery will be stronger if the world is stronger.
I am very pleased by the progress achieved today on both recovery and reform.
Press Release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, March 19, 2009Footnote 7
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton issued the following statement at the conclusion of their March 19 meeting:
“The European Union and the United States are partners in the world's largest trade relationship. Every day, nearly $2.7 billion in manufactured goods, agricultural products and services originating on one side of the Atlantic are delivered on the other side. U.S. and European companies have invested more than $1 trillion in each other's economies, supporting millions of jobs. These enormous flows of trade and investment have played a critical role in promoting U.S. and European prosperity, and the markets, growth, and technological advances that transatlantic trade and investment have helped promote have in turn helped promote economic development throughout the world.
“We met today at an extremely difficult time for the global economy, a time that is testing the resilience of the rules-based multilateral trading system that has played such a critical role in building the global economy. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary leadership, and we have 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.
“We agreed on the importance of achieving an ambitious and balanced outcome to the WTO Doha Development Agenda as soon as possible. We also agreed on the importance of maintaining a sustained effort to follow through on the pledge G20 Leaders made in November to refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, and we endorsed the process recently commenced at the WTO for monitoring trade measures undertaken in response to the international economic situation. At a time when the temptation to turn inward, and away from the rules-based system, may be stronger than it has been in decades, we also agree that the United States and the EU must lead by example, turning outward more intelligently to continue to strengthen the rules-based system and create new market opportunities.
“We also committed ourselves today to a renewed effort to working through, and where possible resolving, the bilateral issues that are part of the landscape of our trade relationship. It is important to recall that our disagreements cover only a small fraction of our total trade and investment, that those disagreements do not prevent us from cooperating, and that the areas in which we cooperate far outnumber the ones in which we disagree. But with global trade flows declining for the first time since 2001, endangering U.S. and European jobs, we should redouble our efforts to solve bilateral problems that impede trade between us. We both confirm our commitment to working closely together to drive forward the multilateral and our bilateral trade agenda.”
Remarks by Vice President Biden, March 20, 2009Footnote 8
Vice President Joe Biden delivered these remarks in Washington, DC
Introductory Remarks Omitted
Vice President Biden. Thank you so much for being here. I'm flattered you're all here. And let me start off by saying to you as we gather here today to swear in a new leader, it's worth considering just how important, and what a significant part the mission of the U.S. Trade Representative is in our future. And it's a big deal.
Ron is going to have the responsibility of working toward opening markets throughout the world to create new opportunities and higher living standards for our families, our farmers, our manufacturers, our workers, our consumers, our businesses. That old joke they used to tell about Willie Sutton. They said, “Why do you rob banks?” He said, “Because that's where the money is.” Why do we need trade? That's where the customers are.
We start off with a premise: We have the most talented workers in the world, we have the most talented entrepreneurs in the world, and we need access for those products. And so if we do this right, we should have—the mission for everyone in this administration is the same as Ron's, and that is: How do we raise the standard of living for middle class people?
Everyone—everyone is seeking to lift us out of these difficult times in this administration and in the Congress. And it's not just to lift us out, but it's to send us all on our way to a much brighter future. This administration is about improving lives everywhere, plain and simple. And the U.S. Trade Representative, that's pretty much his job description in a nutshell, improving the lives everywhere.
In Ron Kirk, we have—we found a leader who has shown time and again that he is the man for this job. He's a man who has defied the odds, and continues to defy the odds; a man who can take very complex problems and find necessary, practical solutions everybody understands; a man who can make a real difference in the lives of American families, and create real opportunities for those who need it most.
Ron has blazed a trail everywhere he's gone. He's the first African American mayor in Dallas. He's the first African American to hold this critical position. And he's the first guy who headed up— was the grand marshal of an Irish event in Dallas where he got the mayor of Cork and the mayor of Belfast to sit down together. I mean, that warrants a Nobel Prize all by itself. So, Ron, I'm now convinced you can do anything. As an Irishman, that says a lot to me.
And now he has to blaze a trail beyond our borders. He has to be—come up with innovative ways for our trade policies to inspire a new environment of basic fairness—basic fairness in our trade relationships, and to generate some—which is going to be one of the cores of whether or not we actually have widespread prosperity here in the United States. And he's got the ideas I think can help make this happen.
I understand that there is not a trade-off, and I think he understands, there's not a trade-off made between supporting free and fair trade and fighting for American workers. Not only can we, we have to, do both. We have to do both. He understands that trade policy is more than just a series of agreements with other countries. It means new social accountability where American influence can shape global trends, where fairness becomes the guiding principle everywhere.
So, ladies and gentlemen, quite simply, trade policy is a vital tool—a vital tool in promoting American interest and ideas around the world; a vital tool in the pursuit of a better life for every American— and God willing, no good agreement is a good agreement unless both parties prosper—and hopefully it is good for the rest of the world, as well.
Ron will be engaged in that pursuit day in and day out. Any of you who know him know he's like a bulldog, he doesn't let anything go. He doesn't let it go. You give him a mission, he accomplishes it. Was he like that when he was a kid, Mom? All right, okay. Well, he has a multiple role here. He's got to be an enforcer; he's got to be a collaborator; he's got to be a negotiator. But most of all, he has to be a leader. And that's what has been the hallmark of his entire career.
He's going to help create a more stable and sustainable, and I think, vibrant American economy as a consequence of his efforts. Other than that, his job is a piece of cake, Mom. There's not much else he has to do.
Really, though, look, in these tough times with economies everywhere, everywhere in the world struggling—there's not one that's not—nations around the globe are looking for new ideas, looking for American leadership. With everyone looking for a reason to be hopeful, the United States of America is poised to stand up and once again become the leader the world needs.
And I know that the President knows— the President knows that Ron Kirk will be the one that helps light the way for us on trade issues. So, Mr. U.S. Trade Representative, I'm going to ask you to come forward and take the oath of office before I give you the—give you the podium.
Press Release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, March 24, 2009Footnote 9
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk met with Mozambican Commerce and Industry Minister Antonio Fernando today to discuss ways to increase trade and investment flows between the two countries. The discussions took place as part of the second high-level meeting under the U.S.-Mozambique Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), signed in 2005. This was Ambassador Kirk's first meeting with one of his African counterparts.
Ambassador Kirk opened the day-long TIFA Council meeting, which included discussions on two-way U.S.-Mozambican trade, implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the WTO Doha negotiations, trade capacity building activities, and measures to improve the environment for two-way U.S.-Mozambican trade. More than a dozen U.S. Government agencies participated in the discussions.
“The Obama Administration is committed to a strong partnership with African countries on trade,” said Ambassador Kirk. “We know that expanded trade can make an important contribution to boosting growth and reducing poverty in Africa. Moreover, economic growth in developing countries, like Mozambique, also benefits the American economy by expanding markets for American exporters. We will use the TIFA process and our trade capacity building assistance to support Mozambique's efforts to improve its business environment and use trade to advance economic development.”
The U.S. Government committed $224 million in trade capacity building assistance to Mozambique in Fiscal Year 2008, most of which was connected with Mozambique's compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation. This assistance will help support small-scale farmers, improve land administration, rehabilitate key roads, support trade policy reforms, and improve Mozambique's business environment.
Press Release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, March 30, 2009Footnote 10
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk met today with the Nigerian Commerce Minister, Chief Achike Udenwa, to discuss progress made during the sixth meeting of the U.S.-Nigeria Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council, held today at USTR. Ambassador Kirk and Minister Udenwa discussed several common objectives, including cooperation in the World Trade Organization (WTO), implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), market access, intellectual property rights and improving the bilateral investment climate between the United States and Nigeria.
“Nigeria has made significant strides in the past year in improving the environment for business and trade,” Ambassador Kirk said. “The U.S.-Nigeria Trade and Investment Framework Agreement is part of a comprehensive U.S. effort to support the Nigerian Government's efforts to advance trade and economic development. We plan to use the U.S.-Nigeria TIFA Council to develop specific initiatives to expand economic opportunities for workers, farmers, businesses, and consumers in our two countries.”
Press Release from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, March 31, 2009Footnote 11
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk today transmitted to Congress the 2009 National Trade Estimate Report (NTE). The report, which is required by statute each year, describes significant barriers to U.S. trade and investment faced in the last year as well as the actions being taken by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to address those barriers. Kirk said today that the report will help to inform an enforcement strategy for the trade policy of the United States, and that USTR is moving forward as follows:
* USTR is beginning a review of the implementation of our existing trade agreements, including the enforcement of the labor and environment provisions;
* USTR is initiating a process to prioritize trade barriers enumerated in the National Trade Estimate Report and to address the most significant;
* USTR is identifying new cases where market access for U.S. goods and services is in jeopardy because of disregard for the rule of law, costing our workers and businesses export opportunities and jobs;
* USTR is planning to prosecute those cases through multilateral and bilateral dispute resolution, so that American workers can trust that their trading system yields results; and
* USTR is working with Congress to improve trade enforcement.
“We must work to open new markets around the world for American farmers, manufacturers, ranchers, and service providers, and at the same time ensure that American workers are reaping the promised benefits of previous agreements through strong enforcement,” said Ambassador Kirk. “The actions that USTR is undertaking will begin to implement the policies outlined in the President's trade policy agenda, to make trade work for American families.”
Kirk said that the National Trade Estimate Report and swift action by USTR will also advance American economic recovery efforts. As tariffs have declined worldwide, many nations have erected different, non-tariff barriers to trade. The barriers cited in the report impede access to markets for the products of American workers, whether those workers are self-employed or working for small, medium or large companies. As exports account for 13 percent of the U.S. economy, USTR's efforts to make incremental gains in market access and to reduce identified trade barriers will open avenues for good-paying jobs for more Americans.
The review and other actions launched by Ambassador Kirk today will use the information collected in the National Trade Estimate Report to, as the President said in his Trade Policy Agenda, “aggressively defend our rights and benefits under the rules-based trading system.” Examples of trade barriers maintained by foreign governments that are outlined in this year's National Trade Estimate Report and that USTR will seek to reduce include:
• onerous testing and certification requirements on more than 1,200 consumer goods;
• new requirements to register and inspect a broad range of imports;
• ineffective enforcement against trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy;
• burdensome import requirements or bans that are not based in science and not compliant with international standards, affecting beef and other animal products, horticulture, grains and processed products, and fruits and vegetables;
• cumbersome and non-transparent approval processes for biotech products;
• discriminatory excise taxes requiring imported products to pay rates 10 to 43 times higher than before;
• prohibited export subsidies (e.g., for “national” brands) that are highly trade distorting; and
• limitations to foreign participation in telecom markets, both basic and value added, through a multiplicity of barriers, including high basic capital requirements, and non-transparent and lengthy investment approvals.
In working to reduce these barriers, USTR will determine when moving to a dispute settlement phase under our trade agreements is the right course of action, with a focus on new and necessary cases that will provide maximum benefit for American workers producing goods and services for export markets.
The National Trade Estimate Report can also advance social accountability and fair competition—another major element of the President's Trade Policy Agenda. As the Administration monitors and enforces market-opening commitments in our trade and investment agreements, USTR will begin to monitor and enforce labor and environment provisions of our agreements to ensure that these obligations are being met on both sides. USTR will consult with Congress in assessing how this type of surveillance could be included in future NTE exercises.
