US, Japan trade officials will meet next week on TPP deal

Top U.S. and Japanese trade officials will meet next week in Washington to tackle outstanding issues in a massive Asia-Pacific trade deal.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Japan’s trade minister, Akira Amari, will ramp up their discussions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership with the aim to conclude their talks and ink a final deal in November. 

{mosads}“We’re now at a critical juncture in this negotiation,” Froman said in Thursday’s remarks at a TPP event sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“We are working hard with Japan to achieve our shared objectives,” he said.  

Bilateral talks between the two nations have been ongoing nearly nonstop for months on agricultural and auto trading barriers.

Froman noted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s vision of accelerating growth “by opening up the country and opening up Japan’s markets.”

“Now is the time for that bold vision to be translated into concrete progress at the negotiating table,” he said.

“We know this is tough, but as the prime minister said, “there is no alternative.”

Froman argued that opening Japan’s economy will end two decades of stagnation and will promote growth.

“It’s a vision that the United States has wholeheartedly supported not only because Japan is one of our closest allies, but also because its success as the world’s third largest economy is vitally important to the global economy.”

“As Prime Minister Abe made clear, TPP has a key role to play in putting Japan on that path,” he said. 

The United States and Japan are working with 10 other nations, from Chile to New Zealand, to forge the massive deal that represents 40 percent of global growth. 

More meetings between the trading partners are shaping up for mid-October in Australia, ahead of President Obama’s planned trip through Asia. 

Froman also said that TPP reaches beyond trade and “is a central component of America’s rebalance to Asia.”

Earlier on Thursday, House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) released a seven-page report outlining the remaining and difficult issues that still need to be resolved for the trade pact to move forward, including labor and environmental standards, intellectual property and state-owned enterprises.

He also said that the U.S. and Japan’s ability to wrap up their bilateral talks won’t necessarily propel the TPP talks through the finish line.

“I think that’s an over simplification,” he said during remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I don’t think any single step unlocks the challenge ahead.”