Trade Remedies, Private Sector Relationships Key, says USTR Official
An “unprecedented” emphasis on enforcement and building private sector relationships has allowed the USTR to expand its reach, USTR General Counsel Timothy Reif said in a Feb. 28 talk at Georgetown Law Center. Reif, the keynote speaker at Georgetown’s 2013 International Trade Update, also discussed the looming threat of sequestration, which he said could force USTR to reduce both its staff and its capability to engage with trade partners -- including less funding to resolve legal disputes. Sequestration would add a “significant hurdle” as the agency prepares for major trade negotiations, Reif said. “It’s a big issue for us.”
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Much of his talk was focused on trade remedies, which he called an important part of USTR’s focus. He said the agency, under specific direction from Ambassador Ron Kirk, has increased its focus on resolving long-standing arguments, such as the EU-U.S. beef hormones dispute. More than a decade old, it is still before the WTO, though “on a path [to resolution],” Reif said.
USTR has also taken a “new approach to problems as they arise,” he said, including using the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center to increase monitoring capacity, investigating issues “from the moment the problem is brought to our attention,” and better collaboration. This includes global partners as well as those in the private sector, Reif said. “We’ve made a particular effort to reach out to small businesses,” he said, to analyze any problems multi-dimensionally -- seeing how issues are tied to other government agencies, for example -- and protect business interests. This includes keeping conversations as confidential as they need to be, Reif said.
On TPP, Reif said he welcomed Japan’s interest in joining the talks, which he said are “now nearing difficult negotiations.” He also said the USTR has the capacity to negotiate both TPP and the recently announced EU-U.S. trade agreement simultaneously.