President Obama is in Beijing .  More accurately he is (or was) about 37 miles northeast of the capital at the International Convention Center on Yanqi Lake, where he participated in the APEC Leaders' Meeting and related events.  Earlier today, for example, he spoke at the APEC Plenary session, and today's quote is from his remarks there.  Here is the full paragraph with the above announcement:

                       In his comments on the ITA breakthrough, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman went through the history of the talks to expand the ITA.  He mentioned the breakdown in the negotiations in December 2013 "due to disagreements over the scope of coverage."  That was a reference to China's unwillingness to put very much on the table.  As Ambassador Froman explained:

And those negotiations promise a lot.  According to a USTR fact sheet:

•  "More than 200 tariff lines will be reduced to zero under an expanded ITA. ..."
   
•  It has been estimated that the expanded ITA will "Increase annual global GDP   by $190 billion," and that in the United States, the new ITA will
   
• "Support up to 60,000 additional U.S. jobs."

In concluding his announcement, Ambassador Froman said, "[W]hile we don't take anything for granted, we are hopeful that we'll be able to work quickly to bring ITA to a successful conclusion."

You know the old saying: "Everything has been said, but not everyone has said it."  We are conscious of the fact that today's entry is very much in that spirit.  We know that for most of you there is little new here.  And yet we thought it worth repeating.  Also, we wanted to add our voice to the voices of those who are thanking and congratulating the people who made this happen:  President Obama, President Xi, Ambassador Froman, the negotiators, and all of those in the private sector who have been working so hard for so long to make an updated ITA a reality.
 
There are lots of people in that last category, but, for us, John Neuffer of the Informational Technology Industry Council is at the head of that column.  And indeed it was from John that we first learned of the breakthrough in the U.S.-China talks.  His blog from Beijing was the first email we read this morning, with both the understated euphoria of Ambassador Froman's announcement and the hope that the U.S.-China accord "will contribute to a rapid conclusion of the broader negotiations in Geneva."
 
In his blog, John also commented on some of the products at issue: "With this bilateral deal to expand product scope," he wrote,  "a number of important goods will now be included in the final round of talks, such as next generation semiconductors called MCOs, a range of medical equipment, a wide array of sophisticated measuring devices, and point-of-sale cards to download software and games.

Beyond ITA.  The ITA breakthrough alone would justify the assessment that this year's APEC meetings were a milestone in global trade policy.  Yet there was more, much more, and like others we will try to assess some of it in the days ahead. Here we will make just two final points.  The first is one that has been made by just about everyone who has talked about the ITA agreement, starting with President Obama.  It wasn't just a major step forward for those who trade in the high-tech products covered by the ITA.  It was an enormously positive step for the WTO.

The second point is takes note of a disappointment. In the TTALK Quote for November 4, we said that President Xi, the host of this year's APEC meetings, had invited Prime Minister Modi of India to attend.  That was his prerogative.  In fact, he invited leaders from three non-APEC countries, namely, India, Pakistan, and Mongolia.  Two of them came, but Prime Minister Modi did not.  That's too bad, because it is just possible - or so we like to think - that if he had been a participant there might have been even more good news for the WTO.  Alas that will have to wait.

There is another plurilateral tariff negotiation going on in Geneva.  This is the effort to fashion a new Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA).

On Thursday, November 20, GBD and the National Association of Manufacturers will host a public discussion on those negotiations.   That session:

will run from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the National Press Club.  Please click the title link for registration options and other details.