[CTC] TPP Talks Near Final 24-Hour Push in Maui

[Arthur Stamoulis]

POLITICO
 
TPP TALKS NEAR FINAL 24-HOUR PUSH IN MAUI
 
Politico Pro
By Doug Palmer
July 30, 2015 at 5:33pm
 
TPP TALKS NEAR FINAL 24-HOUR PUSH IN MAUI: KAANAPALI, Hawaii — Tired trade negotiators are beginning a final uphill push to resolve differences on dairy market access and other issues holding up the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, with a potential all-night session looming tonight.

U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman and his counterparts from the 11 other TPP countries are scheduled to hold a final press conference at 1:30 p.m. Honolulu time Friday (7:30 p.m. in Washington).

The chances they will announce they have reached an "agreement in principle" on the mammoth trade deal covering agriculture, manufactured goods, pharmaceuticals and other sectors appears remote barring major last-minute horse-trading. 

Industry lobbyists characterized the mood on Wednesday as "gloomy" because of the dairy standoff involving the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand and Australia and are hoping for better news today.

Froman met this morning with Peruvian Foreign Tourism and Trade Minister Magali Silva and was due to attend a plenary session of all 12 TPP ministers this afternoon.

U.S. officials are still hoping to announce significant progress this week on a number of major areas, such as intellectual property and investment. There was still no resolution to the closely watched issue of data protection for biologics, but U.S. officials said discussions in that area had been positive.

Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal told reporters that ministers would not know until Friday whether they need to meet again in August to close the deal.

— Doug Palmer <http://www.politicopro.com/reporters/?id=986>
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