Froman Touts Canadian TPP Concessions in Speech to Atlantic Council
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is poised to improve U.S. competitiveness in NAFTA by “tackling” Canadian trade barriers on U.S. dairy and poultry exports, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told the Atlantic Council at an Oct. 27 event (here). Froman didn’t disclose details of the market access terms. Lawmakers and domestic producers have over past months threatened to oppose the pact without real Canadian concessions in those sectors (see 1504070006).
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While the U.S. has routinely criticized Canadian intellectual property protection (see 1506160007), TPP will usher in a new IP regime to NAFTA as well, Froman said. Froman also praised labor provisions and the environment chapter in TPP, which he described as “really quite incredible.” That environment chapter will be included alongside a critical conversation chapter, Froman said. The conversation provisions will “deal with issues like wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, illegal fishing, subsidization of overfishing, protection of the marine environment, protection of marine mammals, protection of sensitive areas like wetlands and those are all part of the agreement and all equally enforceable,” he said.
Froman applauded new free trade agreement language on the digital economy and e-commerce in TPP. USTR has pledged to release in the text of the pact to the public in the coming two weeks (see 1510130021). Despite the benefits to the U.S., TPP is “not a perfect agreement,” Froman said. Still, "I’m confident we’ll have bipartisan support ultimately for its approval,” he said. “The timing is … something we need to work out with congressional leadership. They obviously have a lot on their plate right now and we want to make sure we’re ready to go when a window opens.” Some experts have said congressional action could slip into 2017 (see 1508030024).