On April 29, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order Addressing Trade Agreement Violations and Abuses [not yet published in the Federal Register]. The Executive Order (EO) states that
The WTO announced that Brazil updated WTO members on the measures it has taken to ensure the safety of its meat and meat products at a meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures on 22 and 23 March. The WTO said:
The WTO announced that WTO members discussed five new or enhanced proposals to advance services negotiations at meetings of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation and the Services Council on 14-17 March 2017. Four of these proposals aim to ensure that domestic licensing procedures and technical standards do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade while one proposal relates to the establishment of a trade facilitation agreement for services. The WTO provided the following summaries:
On 22 February 2017, the WTO announced that the first multilateral deal concluded in the 21 year history of the World Trade Organization entered into force. In receiving four more ratifications for the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the WTO has obtained the two-thirds acceptance of the agreement from its 164 members needed to bring the TFA into force. Excerpts from the announcement:
New Strategies for International Trade & Supply Chains under the Trump Administration: Options; Timetables; Preparations
On 23 January 2017, the WTO announced that an amendment to the agreement on intellectual property entered into force securing for developing countries a legal pathway to access affordable medicines under WTO rules. The amendment to the WTO Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement marks the first time since the organization opened its doors in 1995 that WTO accords have been amended. The announcement said:
The WTO announced that the following countries have submitted their instruments of acceptance to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA):
The WTO announced that Canada deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) on 16 December 2016, putting the total number of ratifications from members at 103. Only 7 more ratifications are needed to bring the TFA into force.
On January 2, 2016, the Federal Register published Proclamation 9549 of December 1, 2016 – To Modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and for Other Purposes. The Proclamation modifies the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) to implement the 2017 Harmonized System revisions adopted by the WCO. The actual modifications are incorporated by reference from Annex I of U.S. International Trade Commission Publication 4653 titled, ‘‘Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Under Section 1206 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.’’