TPP Remains a Presidential Priority
Elizabeth Owerbach
As his presidency draws to a close, President Obama continues to pursue passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). As King & Spalding previously reported, the President highlighted the TPP in his final State of the Union Address, pointing to the agreement’s importance for demonstrating U.S. leadership on trade in the Asia-Pacific region. On May 2, President Barack Obama published an opinion in the Washington Post arguing that the TPP would help America to gain a competitive edge over China in international trade. The President wrote:
Today, some of our greatest economic opportunities abroad are in the Asia-Pacific region, which is on its way to becoming the most populous and lucrative market on the planet. Increasing trade in this area of the world would be a boon to American businesses and American workers, and it would give us a leg up on our economic competitors, including one we hear a lot about on the campaign trail these days: China.
The President has asserted that TPP must pass this year, and in his visit to Vietnam at the end of May, expressed that he remained hopeful that this could be achieved.
U.S.–Mexico Tuna Dispute Enters New Compliance Stage at the WTO
Jordan Shepherd
The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute between the United States and Mexico over the former’s dolphin-safe labeling regulations that impact Mexican tuna producers has taken a few procedural turns at the compliance stage. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) found after original panel and appellate proceedings (in June 2012) and in compliance panel and appellate proceedings (in December 2015) that the U.S. tuna measure as amended continued to violate its non-discrimination and other WTO obligations. Then, while the arbitration was underway over Mexico’s request of March 2016 to suspend concessions amounting to $472.3 million annually, the United States in April 2016 requested another compliance panel to consider the WTO-consistency of its further amended tuna measure, and Mexico requested its own compliance panel in May 2016 to review the new measure. Thus, the DSB is confronted with overlapping arbitration over suspension of concessions and two panel proceedings over the most recent tuna measure’s compliance with WTO obligations. In this novel situation, the DSB must consider how to review these overlapping requests and whether to allow trade retaliation by Mexico while compliance proceedings continue.
U.S. Challenges Chinese Duties on Chicken at the WTO
Marcus Sohlberg
On May 10, the United States filed a request for trade consultations with China over China’s alleged failure to comply with rulings in 2013 in the dispute over antidumping and countervailing duties on broiler products from the United States (DS427). According to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, the duties on U.S. broiler chicken exports to China have remained despite the WTO finding that China is breaching its WTO obligations. A consultations request is the first step to initiate formal trade dispute settlement at the WTO. If consultations fail between the U.S. and China, a WTO panel would be expected to be established later this summer with its ruling following within nine months of establishment (provided no delays).
