Twelve countries negotiating for a Pacific free trade pact will hold ministerial talks from May 26 to 28 in the Philippines to seek ways to conclude a deal as soon as possible, a U.S. government official said Thursday.
The United States announced the schedule as Congress is deliberating a bill to help speed up the marathon negotiations for the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership deal that also involves Japan, Australia and nine other nations.
The TPP ministers last held talks in November in Beijing.
The high-level meeting on the TPP will follow trade ministerial talks of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on May 23 and 24 in the Southeast Asian country, Catherine Novelli, undersecretary of state, told a press conference. The Philippines is not taking part in the trade talks.
Remaining thorny issues include how to handle intellectual property, including data on new drugs, and reforms of state-owned organizations, according to negotiation sources.
Japan and the United States, the two largest economies in the envisioned pact, have remained at odds over bilateral issues such as Japan’s exceptional tariffs on some agricultural produce and automotive trades.
To prepare for the ministerial talks chief TPP negotiators from the 12 countries involved will resume their talks on May 14 in Guam, according to the undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment.
The chief negotiators are expected to continue with their Guam meeting even after the TPP ministers gather in the Philippines, planning to end it on May 28, Novelli said.
In addition to the United States, Japan and Australia, the other countries taking part in the talks are Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
via Mainichi
Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.
Alfonso Esparza
trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Latest posts by Alfonso Esparza (see all)
- Market Rally Still Going Low Holiday Volumes Awaiting Start of 2020 - 27 December 2019
- Market Awaits China Retaliation on Trade - 29 November 2019
- Alibaba to Close Order Book Ahead of Huge IPO - 18 November 2019