What We're Covering This Week

This is the make-or-break week for the World Trade Organization as trade officials from around the world gather in Bali to see if they can put together a small package on trade facilitation and other development measures.

             ●          Monday, discussions get underway in Bali as negotiators try to close some big remaining gaps in the trade facilitation package so that the 9th WTO ministerial is a success.
             ●          US Trade Representative Michael Froman, however, will be focusing on the TransPacific Partnership.  He visits Hanoi to meet with government officials about the TPP in preparation for a trade ministers meeting at the end of the week.
             ●          The 9th WTO ministerial officially gets underway in Bali on Tuesday and continues through Friday.
             ●          Colombian President Santos is in Washington this week.  He speaks on Tuesday to the National Press Club.
             ●          TransAtlantic relations – including the US-European Union trade agreement negotiations – will be the theme when a panel of European lawmakers speak at an event at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
             ●          USTR Froman moves on to Malaysia to continue his TPP discussions before heading to Bali for the WTO ministerial.
             ●          On Wednesday, the Washington International Trade Association sponsors a program on the North American Free Trade Agreement and manufacturing.
             ●          Colombian President Santos talks trade and investment at a US Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
             ●          Also Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Asia and Pacific subcommittee holds a hearing on US policy toward Burma, with a panel of Administration witnesses.
             ●          On Thursday, the Center for Strategic and International Studies sponsors a program on the TPP with the chairs of the new Congressional Friends of the TPP Caucus.
             ●          Ongoing efforts to craft a final US farm bill will certainly be on the agenda at the annual Farm Journal Forum.
             ●          Friday, should be the final – and hopefully successful – day of the 9th WTO ministerial.
             ●          On Saturday, TPP trade ministers move on to Singapore for a three-day meeting that they hope will pretty much wrap up negotiations on the 12 country trade agreement.

See you there!