[CTC] TPP Ministerial Set For July 28-29 In Hawaii; Cutler Headed To Tokyo

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Monday, July 06, 2015
Daily News
TPP Ministerial Set For July 28-29 In Hawaii; Cutler Headed To Tokyo

Posted: July 06, 2015
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade ministers are set to meet for two days beginning July 28 in Hawaii to try and hammer out a deal, following several days of meetings there between chief negotiators, according to informed sources.
 
The ministerial meeting has now been confirmed, meaning it will definitely take place and is not contingent on whether chief negotiators make sufficient progress in the days leading up to it, sources said.
 
While the goal of the ministerial meeting is still to conclude the negotiations, one informed source said he was still unsure whether TPP countries will be able to do so.
 
This is largely because some TPP countries lack information about the status of bilateral talks between other parties, he said. This makes it difficult to assess how close parties are to concluding a deal, this source signaled.
 
In a related development, the U.S. is now re-engaging in bilateral talks with Japan and Canada following the passage of fast-track legislation late last month.
 
Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler will head to Tokyo on Tuesday (July 7) to continue talks with her Japanese counterparts on market access and automotive trade issues under TPP, according to USTR's weekly schedule. The schedule did not say how long she would stay in Tokyo.
 
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday (July 5) discussed the need to quickly complete the TPP negotiations in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper before both leaders attended the FIFA Women's World Cup championship game in Vancouver.
 
“Both leaders reaffirmed the shared commitment to deepening robust trade relations and the early conclusion of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” the White House said in a readout of the meeting, which also covered other issues such as the situations in the Middle East and Ukraine.
 
USTR Michael Froman said on June 25 that the U.S. was still waiting <http://insidetrade.com/node/148617> for Canada to come forward with a “meaningful offer” on dairy and poultry.
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