TPP - Leesburg2012

LEESBURG, Va. - In a Sept. 15 press conference that officially closed out the 14th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations here, the chief U.S. negotiator in the talks said the Obama administration plans to hold consultations with stakeholders and members of Congress on whether a final TPP deal should include new disciplines on government policies that distort competition in the agricultural sector. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Barbara Weisel, who leads the TPP talks for the United States, made clear...

U.S. business groups have urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to focus on completely opening up Canada's dairy sector, bolstering protections for intellectual property rights and easing investment and services barriers for U.S. companies when that country joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations next month, according to comments filed last week. The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) argued in its comments that Canada has to improve its copyright protections beyond the copyright law that Canada passed earlier this...

Bolstering protections for intellectual property rights (IPR), improving bilateral trade in meat products, and further opening up investment and procurement opportunities for U.S. companies top the list of demands that U.S. stakeholders want the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to pursue with Mexico when it joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks next month, according to public comments filed by U.S. business groups. Another key issue that was raised by a variety of stakeholders in the textile and apparel industry...

U.S. textile and apparel groups, as well as larger associations like the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT), are urging the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to deal with an issue related to the auditing of U.S. companies by Mexico's tax authority in the context of Mexico joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks. They raised this issue in comments submitted last week to USTR on TPP negotiating objectives with regards to Mexico. According to these groups, audits performed by...

Ministers from countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations on Sept. 9 issued a new report to their leaders outlining progress made in the talks since late last year. The report made clear that progress has been mixed across the different negotiating areas, but does not delve into specifics and makes no mention of some of the biggest challenges, including how to forge agreement on issues related to intellectual property rights (IPR). The report also did not provide much...

LEESBURG, Va. - U.S. manufacturers of socks and hosiery represented by The Hosiery Association (THA) on Sept. 9 made public their demand that the Obama administration revise its position in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks by tabling a rule of origin that would allow certain socks and hosiery made in the U.S. to qualify for TPP tariff benefits even if they use yarns from outside the TPP region. In a one-page position paper handed out at a stakeholder event during...

The United States is facing opposition from Australia over its demand that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement include an obligation to put in place an expedited customs process for reviewing shipments sent via express delivery services that is separate from that for normal shipments, according to informed sources. Australia says it should be exempt from this requirement laid out in a U.S. proposal for a TPP customs chapter because it already provides very rapid clearance for all types of shipments...

LEESBURG, Va. - Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) copyright negotiators this week are discussing a provision tabled by the U.S. on the retransmission of television signals over the Internet, which was missing from the overall U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR) proposal tabled in February 2011, as well as other U.S. copyright proposals. Sources said the new provision on retransmission of TV signals reflects the standard found in past U.S. free trade agreements, including those with South Korea and Colombia. In those agreements,...

LEESBURG, Va. - Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is urging his Senate colleagues to sign on to a letter to the Obama administration endorsing the U.S. push to achieve strong environmental disciplines in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, according to informed sources here. Wyden's planned letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk is likely aimed at bolstering the U.S. negotiating position at a time when that position faces strong opposition from other TPP partners, sources said. The U.S. is urging TPP...

LEESBURG, Va. - A group foreign negotiators here for the 14th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations met with various members of Congress during a Sept. 10 side trip to Washington sponsored by U.S. labor unions and other groups, according to informed sources. About 40 negotiators from all eight foreign TPP partners traveled to the headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to attend a reception where congressional members shared their views on the TPP, according to sources familiar with...