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The Obama administration will host a high-level trade meeting in late July in an effort to conclude a sweeping Pacific trade pact, after winning key legislation in Congress last month to expedite U.S. approval.
U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman will join trade ministers from Japan, Vietnam and nine other countries around the Pacific on Hawaii’s island of Maui from July 28-31, Mr. Froman’s office said in a statement Tuesday. Other officials will gather earlier for lower-level talks on the trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.
After passing so-called fast-track legislation through Congress and signing it into law, President Barack Obama and top U.S. officials have renewed efforts to work with other countries in the proposed bloc on coming to an agreement on the politically sensitive issues that remain.
Officials from the U.S. and Japan are set to meet Thursday to close gaps on auto and agriculture trade. An understanding between the two biggest economies in the group would help pave the way for a 12-nation agreement on issues ranging from intellectual-property protection to environmental and labor standards.
The Pacific deal has faced setbacks and delays many times, and there is no guarantee that the countries will be able come to an agreement in Hawaii or this summer.
“I doubt they can make a final deal,” said Lori Wallach, senior trade expert at Public Citizen, the consumer watchdog group that is leading criticism of the deal alongside unions. “Other countries have been exposed via the fast track debate to how many strong TPP opponents there are in Congress and how uncertain a pro-TPP House vote could be.”
U.S. officials have cited concerns that could cause delays, such as a lack of progress in opening up Canadian agricultural markets.
Still, a deal in coming weeks could allow the TPP to come to a final vote in Congress before the end of the year, according to people following the talks. The peak of the presidential election cycle next year could complicate any deal’s fate in Congress, they said.
“We have made considerable progress in closing gaps on remaining issues, and we continue to work intensively to address specific issues bilaterally,” Mr. Froman’s office said in a statement. “The upcoming ministerial provides an important opportunity to build on this progress as we work to conclude the negotiation.”
Mr. Obama is selling the TPP as a way to boost economic growth in the U.S. and increase American influence in the Pacific at a time when China is flexing its economic and military muscles.
Mr. Obama met Tuesday with the head of Vietnam’s Communist Party, part of an effort to build ties with the country in a rebalancing of foreign policy toward Asia.
But some Republicans and many Democrats in Congress are opposing the TPP, saying it could create avenues for multinational corporations to move production to countries such as Vietnam with lower wages and labor standards.
In addition to Vietnam, Japan and Canada, the other countries negotiating with the U.S. in the TPP are Australia, Chile, Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru and Singapore.
Source: Wall Street Journal