House Democrats Split On Including Currency Provisions In TPP Deal

House Democrats appear to be split on the notion that the Obama administration should look to include provisions combating currency "manipulation" in a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The issue is gaining prominence now that Japan is poised to join the talks in late July, and a labor source last week said the administration now appears more open to the possibility of including currency than it had been earlier on in the TPP talks.

Larsen Worried By Lack Of China Experts At State, Defense Departments

Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), a co-chair of the U.S.-China Working Group, last week said he was worried that the continued lack of key appointments in the State Department and Department of Defense could make it harder for the administration to push ahead on important bilateral trade and security issues ahead of the scheduled meeting of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in mid-July.

Huawei 'Committed' To U.S. But Looks To Markets With Less Restrictions

A senior official for Huawei, China's largest telecommunications company, today (April 29) said the firm remains “committed to its customers and employees” in the United States but that it will focus on growing its infrastructure business primarily in other markets, where it does not face as many restrictions.

U.S., China, Japan Warn That Failure In Bali Could Spell End For Doha

The United States, China, Japan and others last week urged their fellow World Trade Organization members to accelerate work toward crafting a package of outcomes for the ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia, and warned that failure to find agreement in central areas like trade facilitation and agriculture by the end of the year could make it impossible for members to ever conclude a deal in the deadlocked Doha round.