[CTC] 10pm ET: TPP Ministerial Press Conference & Live Stream

Fri Jul 31 18:02:35 PDT 2015

Another article below…

USTRNEWS
UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
www.ustr.gov <http://www.ustr.gov/>               Washington, D.C. 20508          202-395-3230

MEMORANDUM                                                                                          
TO:                                    Reporters and Editors                                                               
RE:                                    TPP Ministerial Press Conference & Live Stream
On Friday, July 31 at 4:00p HST/10:00p EDT, the United States will host a press conference with the twelve Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministers to discuss progress in the negotiations. 

Call time for TPP-registered television and radio press wishing to cover the press conference is 2:30p HST. Media must be set before 3:00p HST.

The press conference will be broadcast to press and the public via live stream on the USTR website. 
You may view the live stream here: www.ustr.gov/tpp/maui-livestream <http://www.ustr.gov/tpp/maui-livestream>
To learn more about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, please visit www.ustr.gov/tpp <http://www.ustr.gov/tpp>.

###

Pacific Trade Talks in Hawaii Said to Near End Without Deal
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-31/pacific-trade-talks-in-hawaii-said-to-near-end-without-agreement <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-31/pacific-trade-talks-in-hawaii-said-to-near-end-without-agreement>
Negotiators from the U.S. and 11 Asia-Pacific countries are unlikely to sign off on a free-trade agreement after a four-day meeting in Hawaii, according to a person briefed on the talks.

Trade ministers hashing out the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership had sought to wrap up a deal in principle on Friday. They’ve been unable to resolve differences on automobile and dairy issues, the person said, requesting anonymity because the meeting hasn’t concluded.

Negotiators, who will return to their home countries instead of continuing discussions in Hawaii, all but completed work in areas such as intellectual property and state-owned companies, creating confidence that they can work out the remaining issues soon, the person said.

Failure to conclude a deal soon would be a blow to President Barack Obama, who invested six months of lobbying this year in a successful effort to win enhanced negotiating authority from the U.S. Congress to complete the Asia-Pacific deal.

“The sad thing is, 98 percent is completed,” said Andrew Robb, Australia’s trade minister.

The Asia-Pacific trade pact, covering a range of products and services, would cover 40 percent of global economic output and, Obama has argued, set standards ahead of a rising China.

U.S. Representative Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat who attended the talks being held on the island of Maui, said expectations may have been too high given the technical disputes remaining when the meeting began on July 28.

Whey Protein
“We are working on issues that should have been dealt with long ago,” Levin said.

Officials spent much of the meeting steeped in the details of trade in dairy products such as whey protein, milk powder and cheese. Canada came under heavy pressure <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/canada-under-pressure-as-pacific-trade-talks-slow-over-dairy> to open its highly protected market from countries including the U.S., Australia, and above all, New Zealand.

“Dairy is key to our future prosperity,” said Mike Petersen, New Zealand’s special envoy for agricultural trade, said in an interview. “That’s why we fight so hard.”

Top officials from the 12 countries scheduled a news conference for 10 p.m. New York time on Friday to outline the progress they’ve made, and future plans.

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