TPP - SanDiego2012

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has not yet made a decision on whether to heed the demands of U.S. agriculture groups and strengthen its current proposal in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, according to a U.S. trade official. These groups are pressing the administration to provide for full enforceability of SPS obligations that go beyond World Trade Organization rules. "We have spent time getting input from those stakeholders that are seeking to...

At the close of the 13th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks in San Diego on July 10, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said negotiators from the nine participating countries made "important progress" toward concluding the deal, but stopped short of announcing that they had formally closed out any new chapters. In a statement released at the formal conclusion of the San Diego round, USTR announced that the next round of negotiations will take place Sept. 6-15 in...

Contrary to expectations of U.S. business representatives, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not propose additional language it has developed as a clarification to its proposal for disciplines on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) at the 13th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership talks that concluded this week in San Diego, according to informed sources. The new language USTR has developed likely lays out the extent to which companies that are partly owned by sovereign wealth funds would be covered under the...

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is consulting with members of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee about the possibility of allowing more congressional staff to view the text of U.S. proposals tabled in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, according to a U.S. trade official. This move by USTR is an apparent response to objections by many in Congress that USTR is not being transparent enough in the TPP talks. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in...

SAN DIEGO -- A U.S. trade official signaled yesterday (July 5) that negotiators from countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks have not yet decided whether to hold a meeting of TPP leaders or trade ministers on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled to take place on Sept. 2-9 in Vladivostok, Russia. "There's been no discussion among chief negotiators about what sort of meeting, if any, might take place at APEC in Vladivostok," the official said...

SAN DIEGO -- Countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks are considering Miami as a possible venue for the 14th round of talks slated to take place in the United States in September, according to informed sources here. At the same time, one source said TPP countries may ultimately opt not to hold the next round in Miami because it would take place during the fall hurricane season, which could make it more difficult for negotiators to travel there...

SAN DIEGO--A U.S. trade official this week said the U.S. plans to seek new market access commitments from Canada in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations once that country joins the negotiations, but not from Mexico because it has already fully opened its market to the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). "We have actually a comprehensive agreement already with Mexico, so there's not new market access that we would be seeking because we already have 100...

SAN DIEGO -- A group representing U.S. lumber producers is working to build support among current participants in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks to press Canada, once it joins the negotiations, to eliminate its export restrictions on timber as part of a TPP agreement. Canada was invited to join the TPP talks last month and will not participate in negotiations until later this year, but representatives of the U.S. Lumber Coalition traveled here this week to make their case to...

SAN DIEGO -- Ahead of the 13th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations that formally kicked off this week, nearly two dozen U.S. business groups urged U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to ensure that a final TPP deal includes strong commitments in the area of cross-border trade in services, including disciplines to address the competitive distortions posed by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In a June 29 letter to Kirk, the 22 business groups, including the Coalition of Service Industries and the U.S...

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks this week said participants are open to giving developing countries more time to phase in some of their obligations once the agreement goes into effect, but insisted this does not amount to special and differential treatment that allows them to opt out of certain obligations. "We are looking ... as a development question at … [a] phased implementation of some commitments based on the needs of specific...