TPP

TPP:US official says trade talks making progress
The senior US trade official says progress has been significant in talks to secure a Pacific-wide trade deal by the end of the year

Radio NZ,

6 October, 2013

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The leaders of the 12 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks will meet on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Bali on Tuesday to try to help overcome outstanding issues.

Some commentators have questioned whether a deal can be done by the year's end without the involvement of US President Barack Obama who has cancelled a visit to the region because of the government funding crisis in Washington, missing the APEC summit.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key will chair the TPP meeting in Mr Obama's place.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman said significant progress had been made in the past few days and insisted the TPP remains on track.

"We spent a great deal of time this week working on TPP. The TPP countries are strongly committed to working to conclude negotiations this year."

Radio New Zealand's economics correspondent says negotiations are understood to be moving slowly on several sensitive issues, including intellectual property and access for agricultural products.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is standing in for the president at APEC, says the US is not neglecting its responsibilities, including those in Asia, and that the meeting remains a premier forum for fostering more free trade.

"I do want to make clear, none of what is happening in Washington diminishes one iota our commitment to our partners in Asia, including our efforts to promote trade and investment throughout the region," he said.

The TPP is under negotiation by the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Chile, Canada, Mexico and Peru.

"A Corporate Trojan Horse": Obama Pushes Secretive TPP Trade Pact, Would Rewrite Swath of U.S. Laws

As the federal government shutdown continues, Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Asia for secret talks on a sweeping new trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

The TPP is often referred to by critics as "NAFTA on steroids," and would establish a free trade zone that would stretch from Vietnam to Chile, encompassing 800 million people — about a third of world trade and nearly 40 percent of the global economy. 

While the text of the treaty has been largely negotiated behind closed doors and, until June, kept secret from Congress, more than 600 corporate advisers reportedly have access to the measure, including employees of Halliburton and Monsanto. 

"This is not mainly about trade," says Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. "It is a corporate Trojan horse. The agreement has 29 chapters, and only five of them have to do with trade. The other 24 chapters either handcuff our domestic governments, limiting food safety, environmental standards, financial regulation, energy and climate policy, or establishing new powers for corporations."