Pacific trade negotiations falter
Negotiations for a sweeping Asia-Pacific agreement faltered Friday, dealing a blow to President Obama’s trade agenda.
Despite making significant progress, talks toward a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal were stalled between the United States and 11 Pacific and Latin American nations over several crucial issues, according to news reports.
{mosads}Trade negotiators worked frantically up until the last minute to lock in an agreement on the TPP but appeared to come up short, with several nations refusing to budge on sensitive issues from access to agricultural markets, specifically dairy, to autos and the patent length for biologic drugs.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said that “significant progress” was made during the last week of meetings, moving closer to concluding the pact.
He said there are still a limited number of difficult issues that require more attention to to be resolved.
“I’m very impressed with the work that’s been done, I feel very gratified with the progress that’s been made and I’m confident through out continued intensive engagement we will be able to tackle the remaining issues successfully,” Froman said.
Froman said talks will continue to work out those issues, and no additional group meetings have been set.
Failure to complete the deal during this round likely pushes a congressional vote on the pact, which is a key piece of the White House’s pivot to Asia, into the 2016 presidential election season.
It also raises an even bigger question about whether TPP can get done before Obama’s second term ends in 2017.
The president had made a personal push for the completion of his trade agenda before he leaves office. And he has held high-level meetings with leaders such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to get TPP across the finish line before the pressure of the election year takes its toll.
Expectations to lock in a final deal in Hawaii had grown after Obama signed fast-track legislation at the end of June, assuring the participating countries that Congress can’t change the TPP once is reaches Capitol Hill.
But U.S. negotiators also went into the latest round of talks cognizant that they had some tricky issues to navigate and that there was the prospect that a deal might remain elusive.
U.S. officials also have to thread the needle on satisfying not only their trading partners but Congress, where fast-track passed by a tight margin in the House.
Both chambers have to accept the deal for TPP to go into effect.
There was no word yet as to when the trade ministers would meet again to try to wrap of the final details.
– Updated at 10:48 p.m.
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