Trade chief says Pacific trade pact deal not easy
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration's top trade official said Thursday the goal of concluding a major trade agreement with Pacific Rim countries by the end of this year is difficult but "doable."
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman acknowledged at a House hearing that numerous obstacles remain, however, including ensuring that Japan lives up to its commitments to open its markets to American products.
Froman said his negotiators would be working with Japan, the newest participant in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, over the coming months to resolve issues over Japanese barriers to U.S. autos, farm products and insurance services. He said finalizing the agreement by year end is "ambitious but I think it is doable."
Talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, began more than two years ago, with the 18th round of negotiations now taking place in Malaysia. There are currently 11 participants — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam, with Japan set to join. It would be the largest free-trade agreement ever, including countries that make up about 40 percent of world trade.
...
Froman also pledged that the administration will work with Congress to craft a new trade promotion authority bill that would give the administration the power to negotiate trade deals that Congress can accept or reject but cannot alter. The last trade promotion authority act expired in 2007, making negotiating partners less willing to proceed with trade deals because of concerns that Congress will tamper with them.
Republicans have pushed for renewal of trade promotion authority, but some Democrats, who see trade agreements as a source of environmental damage and labor rights violations, have resisted.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/trade-chief-says-pacific-trade-pact-deal-not-easy
= new reply since forum marked as read
