[CTC] Deal close on Trans-Pacific Partnership (6pm presser may slide again)

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Reports that the 6pm press conference may slide again.  In the meantime...


POLITICO
Deal close on Trans-Pacific Partnership

10/04/2015 05:08PM EDT

ATLANTA - Negotiators from the U.S., Japan and 10 Pacific-Rim nations appeared close late Sunday afternoon to cinching a landmark trade deal, setting the stage for President Barack Obama to send the deal to a divided Congress early next year.

Almost six years in the making, the deal would tear down trade barriers and establish rules in areas like labor, the environment and e-commerce for countries that produce 40 percent of the world's economic output, from giants like the U.S. and Japan to developing nations like Peru, Malaysia and Vietnam. 

The TPP is key to Obama's "pivot" to Asia, aimed at anchoring the United States in a region increasingly dominated by China.

Trade ministers stayed three days past their expected departure to continue the final, difficult talks on auto, dairy and drug protections- knotty issues that will likely shape the votes in Congress, as well as in the legislatures of other nations. Late Sunday afternoon they appeared to be just a few hours away from a hammering out final agreement.

If that happens later tonight, U.S. lawmakers could soon be closely scrutinizing the details, though it could be sometime before they vote on the pact.

Business groups have pushed for comprehensive tariff cuts and strict intellectual property protections. U.S. pharmaceutical companies in particular wanted 12 years of exclusivity for a new class of life-saving medicines called biologics, but U.S. negotiators faced stiff opposition from other countries.

Still, the administration is banking that the overall economic heft and geostrategic importance of the agreement will overcome concerns in Congress about individual provisions of the pact. Indeed, many farmers and businesses could benefit greatly from the agreement, especially in markets like Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam, where they now face significant trade barriers.

"Whether you're an orange grower in Florida, a rancher in Nebraska or a boat builder in Washington state, TPP will include cuts to trade barriers, like tariffs" that currently block exports, an Obama administration official said.

The agreement would throw another variable into the volatile 2016 presidential election campaign, with Republican front-runner Donald Trump criticizing the pact before it was even complete and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton adopting a wait-and-see approach on a major geopolitical play she touted as Obama's secretary of state. 

As U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and his team pushed for the final deal, senior members of Congress grumbled that they weren't being kept up to date about developments on key issues. "We expect you to intensify these consultations and coordination immediately," the top Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee said in a letter to Froman on Wednesday.

U.S. trade officials, however, bristled at the suggestion they haven't kept Congress informed. Froman has met with 100 members since a previous TPP ministerial meeting in Maui in late July, including with the Senate and House advisory groups on negotiations, they said. 

The AFL-CIO labor federation and many environmental groups lined up behind congressional Democrats in the unsuccessful attempt to defeat the fast track trade bill. Still, the administration hopes what it describes as groundbreaking labor and environmental provisions will soften the opposition if not completely quiet it. 

"TPP will include the most robust enforceable environment commitments of any trade agreement, and will allow us to address pressing issues like wildlife trafficking, illegal logging and illegal fishing," an administration official said. "TPP will put American workers first by including the strongest enforceable labor standards of any trade agreement in history, including in areas like child labor and forced labor and wages.


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