USTR.gov 6/3/11

Ambassador Kirk Co-Hosts June 2 TEPAC Meeting 06/03/2011

Ambassador Kirk and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson hosted a meeting of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC) on June 2 at USTR. This is the fourth TEPAC meeting that Ambassador Kirk and Administrator Jackson have co-hosted. Ambassador Kirk provided updates on the trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama, on recent developments with Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, APEC and WTO Doha negotiations, including a read-out of his recent meetings in Big Sky, Montana. Administrator Jackson highlighted that the Administration is working on a new strategy for electronic waste. TEPAC members focused in particular on fisheries subsidies, thanking USTR for U.S. leadership in the WTO and TPP, and on environmental goods and services, including U.S. aspirations for the Leaders Meeting in Honolulu in November. Assistant USTR for Environment and Natural Resources, Mark Linscott, provided a detailed assessment of TPP negotiations on environment, including highlighting the U.S. proposal on wildlife and wild plant (e.g., forestry) conservation.

 Ambassador Marantis Joins Senator Mark Warner To Host a Town Hall Meeting in Herndon, Virginia 06/03/2011  Recently, Ambassador Marantis joined Virginia Senator Mark Warner for a town hall meeting at the Hewlett-Packard headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. Taking questions from the audience, Ambassador Marantis highlighted the Obama Administration’s agenda to foster sustainable growth and create well-paying American jobs through trade. Ambassador Marantis with Senator Warner and HP Executives The Ambassador’s remarks focused on the U.S.-South Korea Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations, and his recent participation in the 2011 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers forum in Big Sky, Montana. Each of these initiatives highlights the importance of the Asia-Pacific region to both the U.S. and Virginia economies. With the region accounting for 44 percent of global trade and 40 percent of the world’s population, breaking into and staying in these markets is vital to growing Virginia’s $17 billion in goods exports, as well as its services exports. Increasing Virginia’s exports will also have a significant and positive effect on export-supported jobs. Nearly one-fifth of Virginia manufacturing workers depend on manufacturing exports for their jobs. As the world’s largest information technology company, it is no surprise that HP webcast the event to its 325,000 employees worldwide – allowing an audience member in Paolo Alto, California to ask a question on the pending trade agreements and an audience member in India to inquire into U.S.-India trade relations. Ambassador Marantis would like to thank Senator Warner and the entire HP team for organizing such a wonderful event.

WIIT Honors USTR’s Wendy Cutler at their Annual Dinner and Awards 06/02/2011 – Wednesday night, the Association of Women in International Trade (WIIT) held their annual dinner and awards ceremony honoring Wendy Cutler, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan, Korea and APEC Affairs, as the WIIT Woman of the Year. Wendy recalled her first experience at the WIIT annual awards dinner in 2000 when U.S. Trade Representative Barshefsky was honored. It was a moment “that couldn’t get any better,” Wendy said in her acceptance remarks. Deputy U. S. Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro gave the keynote address at the event. She updated the audience on USTR’s diverse and growing trade agenda and highlighted the important progress being made on free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama. Ambassador Sapiro introduced Wendy as a leader with the ability to “lead her team with skill and grace.” Ambassador Sapiro introduces AUSTR Wendy Cutler at the WIIT Woman of the Year Annual Dinner Wendy served as the chief negotiator in 2006 and 2007 for the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement and played a key role in 2010 automotive negotiations with South Korea. In her acceptance remarks, Wendy recalled the first conversation in 2004 about a potential bilateral trade agreement with her South Korean counterpart. After he became minister of trade, he assembled his team and negotiations began in 2006, culminating in the signing of the agreement. Wendy said, “of all my jobs at USTR, this one has proven to be the most exciting and rewarding.” AUSTR Wendy Cutler speaks after accepting the WIIT Woman of the Year Award She joined USTR in 1988 after five years at the Department of Commerce. Since then, she tirelessly negotiated and implemented the United States’ trade agenda with Japan, Korea and within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum. Wendy concluded by saying the key to success is “figuring out where you want to go and sticking to it until you get there.” WIIT holds its annual dinner and awards to honor outstanding women in trade who have made substantial contributions to their mission of “enhancing the careers of individuals in international trade.”

Ask The Ambassador: The U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement and Jobs 06/02/2011

We recently received a question from Anna in Maryland about the U.S.-Korea trade agreement and growing American jobs. “In light of the recent FTA with Korea, will that increase or have a significant impact on U.S. jobs? If so, in what industries may we see this impact take place?” Ambassador Kirk responds: “The U.S.-South Korea trade agreement is estimated to increase U.S. exports to Korea by $10-$11 billion annually. And that is just the result of removing South Korea’s tariffs on U.S. goods. All these increased exports are estimated to support at least 70,000 additional U.S. jobs. But it does not stop there. When you add in the effects of the agreement’s many provisions that eliminate non-tariff barriers and strengthen the protection of intellectual property, for example, we believe the actual increase in U.S. exports will be even higher, which means more U.S. jobs. Also, Korea has a $580 billion services market, where the U.S. already competes very strongly. The agreement opens up that services market even more, which will mean even more exports of American services to Korea, which in turn means even more U.S. jobs. With South Korea being a developed, $1 trillion economy, the agreement will benefit American exporters – and therefore help create additional jobs – in a broad range of industries and sectors, from machinery, aerospace, and medical technology, to express delivery services and insurance, and most everything in between.” Thank you for continuing our dialogue on trade. Please keep submitting your questions and comments for the Ambassador. Ambassador Kirk On Reuters Insider at the 2011 OECD Forum 06/01/2011 – 5:16pm In Paris last week at the 2011 OECD Forum, Ambassador Kirk spoke with Reuters Insider regarding the Doha round o ftrade negotiations.

National Small Business Week – Kansas City Small Business

Conference 06/01/2011 – 4:43pm During World Trade Week and National Small Business Week, Deputy Assistant USTR for Small Business, Market Access and Industrial Competitiveness Christina Sevilla had the opportunity to address a conference titled “Futurallia 2011” in Kansas City, Missouri. The conference included over 600 small businesses from across America and 27 other countries. Her remarks focused on the work the United States and our trading partners are undertaking to better support small businesses growth and prosperity through exporting. For example, USTR is working within the Trans-Pacific Partnership to emphasize the needs of small- and medium-sized businesses. This emphasis will help these businesses participate more actively in Asia-Pacific trade and address trade barriers that affect access to these markets. The United States also convened the first ever joint meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Trade and SME Ministers in Big Sky, Montana last week. The ministers worked to find ways to address barriers to trade that particularly impact small businesses, and make it cheaper, easier, and faster to trade within the region. At the conference, Christina met with Missouri small businesses seeking to expand their exports into new foreign markets, including Western Forms, a small manufacturer from Kansas City, which has 100 employees and exports aluminum molds for concrete housing to 40 countries. Company manager Dan Ward expressed his support for free trade agreements, saying “We have customers in Colombia and Panama. [Trade agreements] would help us create more jobs in Kansas City.” Another small company, SComm, has 10 employees in Raytown, Missouri and exports a patented portable device, the UbiDuo, which helps deaf and hard of hearing people communicate more easily. SComm Vice President Emma Curry said the company has exported to various U.S. free trade agreement partners, including Canada and Australia, among other countries. They are also interested in increasing sales to more foreign customers in additional countries around the world. Expanding exports by America’s innovative small- and medium-sized businesses is a key priority of the Obama Administration’s National Export Initiative – which is working to double exports by the end of 2014 and support jobs here at home. Watch Ambassador Demetrios Marantis’ Testimony before the Senate Finance Committee 05/26/2011 – 9:47am Today Ambassador Demetrios Marantis is testifying before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement. You can watch the hearing live on the Committee’s website here starting at 10:00 a.m. ET. Video: Ambassador Kirk on Small Businesses Benefiting from Trade at OECD 05/25/2011 – 3:28pm Ambassador Kirk is in Paris, France at the OECD Ministerial today. Watch a short video below on how USTR is working to make it “cheaper, simpler, and faster” for American small businesses to export and grow.

Ambassador Kirk Meets with Trade Minister Pangestu of Indonesia 05/25/2011

On Tuesday, Ambassador Kirk met with Trade Minister Mari Pangestu of Indonesia for a wide-ranging discussion of the bilateral trade relationship. They welcomed progress made in advancing the relationship between the two countries and agreed to hold the next meeting of the U.S.-Indonesia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in the next few months in Washington, D.C. Ambassador Kirk and Minister Pangestu In addition, Ambassador Kirk and Minister Pangestu agreed to explore ways to expand bilateral cooperation on trade and investment issues. This includes facilitating the expanded engagement of U.S. and Indonesian business leaders in upcoming discussions. Ambassador Kirk emphasized the importance of making progress on outstanding market access issues, including customs procedures restricting U.S. exports of movies to Indonesia. They also discussed the status of the Generalized System of Preferences program. The two ministers exchanged views on the Doha round of negotiations and on the work they were doing together in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The U.S.-Indonesia trade relationship is growing rapidly. In 2010, U.S. goods trade with Indonesia rebounded from the global economic downturn by increasing to an all-time high of $23 billion, up 30 percent from 2009. U.S. exports led the increase, up 36 percent to $6.9 billion last year, supporting well-paying jobs here at home.