TPP Ministers Fail to Close Negotiations, Target July for Chief Negotiator Summit
The U.S. and other Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) participant nations failed to close gaps during multilateral negotiations at the two-day ministerial in Singapore, Malaysia, according to a joint statement. The summit concluded on May 20. The ministers are instructing chief negotiators to meet at some point in July, indicating the participant nations do not aim to conclude negotiations prior to that summit.
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Japanese agriculture negotiators are coming to Washington, D.C. next week to meet with U.S. officials, however, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in a May 21 conference call with reporters. The summit aims to continue to build on recent "momentum," but the U.S. and Japan remain in a "critical" stage of negotiations on agricultural issues. The Japanese government remains unwilling to concede tariff elimination on rice, beef and pork, wheat, dairy and sugar (see 14050804). The Obama administration is publicly committed to complete tariff elimination, but Froman implied that may not be feasible. "All of the countries around the table, not just the U.S., are focused on ensuring that the final outcome is ambitious," said Froman. "We are working to press for tariff elimination to the maximum possible."
The U.S. and the 11 other TPP participant nations are also still in disagreement on a raft of rules provisions, said Froman. "There are a number of rules issues, including on the IP chapter" where "there are still outstanding issues to be worked through," he added, noting that progress in market access talks is paving the way for progress in other areas of negotiations. Froman declined to target a specific date for conclusion of negotiations.
Nonetheless, the ministers touted progress in identifying the remaining areas of disagreement in their joint statement. “In a series of positive meetings we cemented our shared views on what is needed to bring negotiations to a close,” said the statement. “We focused in particular on making meaningful progress on market access and also advanced outstanding rules issues in an effort to narrow our remaining differences.”