U.S.-Peru FTA News

The Times reports that the administration is considering an unprecedented challenge to Peru's deforestation practices.

The Labor Department on Friday issued a second review -- originally expected in June -- of Peru's progress in bringing its labor commitments into compliance with the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, calling on Lima to take additional actions.

In response to last week's U.S. action to block timber imports from a Peruvian logging company, the Peruvian government said it is committed to collaborative efforts to build a “robust forest system,” which Peru argues takes time to develop.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in what he called an “unprecedented enforcement action,” today directed Customs and Border Protection to block timber imports from a Peruvian exporter the U.S. says engaged in illegal harvesting practices.

On the heels of a U.S. fact-finding trip to Peru, four of that country's largest unions plan to ask the U.S. Labor Department for a public update on its evaluation of the Peruvian government's progress in an ongoing labor dispute under the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement.

Sen. Murray: Puzder will have “a lot of explaining to do.”

The U.S. Department of Labor has extended by six months a review of Peru's progress in meeting labor commitments under the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement, saying that despite some progress over the past nine months of dialogue, multiple areas of concern still need to be addressed.

With a U.S. Department of Labor deadline approaching, discussions are intensifying around a possible Peruvian presidential decree that would be aimed at resolving issues raised in a labor complaint under the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement -- while labor groups in the South American country are escalating a protest campaign to pressure the government.

Froman: “I am encouraged by the concrete actions announced by the Peruvian government.”