To TPP Or Not To TPP, That Is The Question
Saud Aldawsari

In recent weeks, President Trump has expressed both positive and negative opinions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). For example, President Trump recently floated the idea of reconsidering participation by the United States in TPP, but the President later expressed his preference for bilateral trade agreements which he praised as far more efficient, profitable, and better for American workers. The United States withdrew from TPP during President Trump’s first week in office. Japan and the other remaining TPP members—Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam—subsequently reached a new deal called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). On April 24, Mexico’s Senate voted 73-24 to ratify CPTPP, which makes Mexico the first member to approve the new agreement.

Following a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Trump tweeted that TPP contained “too many contingencies and no way to get out if it doesn’t work.” During the bilateral meeting, Japan and the United States discussed North Korea and trade policy. The parties also reportedly discussed the Section 232 National Security tariffs on Japanese steel and aluminum that have been in effect since March 23, 2018, although it is not clear if Japan made any headway on securing suspension of those tariffs. The United States and Japan agreed to launch a new round of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement on “free, fair, and reciprocal trade.”

Updated Additive Manufacturing Standardization Roadmap To Be Released Soon
Patrick Togni

Additive manufacturing—also known as three-dimensional (3D) printing—is increasingly utilized by a variety of industries ranging from aerospace to healthcare. A preliminary draft of the Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC) Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing (Version 2.0) (AMSC Roadmap 2.0) has been released to the public. AMSC has requested comments on the draft AMSC Roadmap 2.0, which may be filed through May 3, 2018. Version 1.0 of the Roadmap was published in February 2017.

Launched in 2016, AMSC “was established to coordinate and accelerate the development of industry-wide additive manufacturing standards and specifications consistent with stakeholder needs and thereby facilitate the growth of the additive manufacturing industry. The stakeholders include industry, academia, standards developing organizations, and the federal government. The group is not developing standards; rather, the aim of the draft roadmap is to identify standards needed and foster a more coherent and coordinated approach to standards development for additive manufacturing.”

The final version of AMSC Roadmap 2.0 is set to be published in June 2018. Additional information is available here.