USTR TO BEGIN NEGOTIATIONS FOR U.S./AUSTRALIA TRADE PACT

USTR TO BEGIN NEGOTIATIONS FOR U.S./AUSTRALIA TRADE PACT    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will soon begin free-trade agreement negotiations with the Australian government.
   The Bush administration notified Congress about its intent to begin trade talks with Australia on Nov. 13. Under the 2002 Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act, the president must provide Congress with at least 90 days written notice of his intent to enter into trade negotiations with another country.
   Before the negotiations start, the USTR will hold a public hearing with the industry in Washington on Jan. 15. Some of the topics for the hearing include:
   * General and commodity-specific negotiating objectives for the proposed agreement.
   * Economic costs and benefits to U.S. producers and consumers of removal of tariffs and non-tariff barriers to U.S./Australian trade.
   * Adequacy of existing customs measures to ensure Australian origin of imported goods, and appropriate rules of origin for goods entering the United States under the proposed agreement.
   * Existing Australian sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical barriers to trade.
   The USTR also asked the International Trade Commission to provide a report on the probable economic effects of a U.S./Australian free-trade agreement by June 3.
   For more information about the hearing, contact Gloria Blue, executive secretary of the USTR’s Trade Policy Staff Committee, at (202) 395-3475.