Countries Inch Toward Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal
October 04 2015 - 12:34PM
Dow Jones News
By William Mauldin
ATLANTA--The U.S. and 11 countries around the Pacific inched
closer Sunday toward a deal on a sweeping trade agreement that
would lower barriers to goods and services and set commercial rules
of the road for two-fifths of the world's economy.
Senior officials from the 12 countries had sought to wrap up the
Trans-Pacific Partnership in just two days of high-level talks, but
a final deal was delayed by a fight between the U.S. and Australia
over intellectual-property protection for biologic drugs that in
turn prevented New Zealand and other countries from resolving
another sensitive issue--tariffs and quotas for dairy products.
A third dispute--about rules for automobile assembly--is
essentially resolved, according to officials and people following
the talks.
U.S. officials expressed optimism Sunday morning that officials
could close the remaining gaps and reach an agreement before
leaving Atlanta. Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari is set to
leave the talks Monday, suggesting an agreement or a collapse of
the talks could come in hours, an official said.
"My sense is there will be a close today," said Tami Overby,
senior vice president for Asia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "I
don't think it's going to be a perfect deal, but I hope it's going
to be a very good deal, " she said, saying the details would have
to be analyzed with members.
While officials said the U.S. and Australia have all but
eliminated their differences on the drug spat, Chile, Peru and
other countries remain concerned about adding to the price of drugs
through long exclusivity periods that slow generic imitations.
Still, a pathway to settle the medicine dispute may allow New
Zealand and the U.S. to work out differences over the dairy trade,
New Zealand's No. 1 export.
Canada and Japan are expected to increase access to their
tightly controlled dairy markets, but New Zealand wants the U.S. to
provide significant access, too. Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) and Rep.
Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), two key lawmakers overseeing trade policy,
have insisted on significant new access to Canada for dairy
producers in their states. American lawmakers don't want to provide
too much access to New Zealand because it could threaten the
business models of less-competitive U.S. dairy farms.
An agreement would be a major victory for President Barack
Obama, who has touted the TPP as part of his administration's
rebalancing of foreign policy toward fast-growing economies in
Asia, though the president still faces a steep challenge in the
months ahead winning approval for the deal in a deeply divided
Congress.
Legislation designed to speed passage of the agreement through
Congress passed very narrowly early this summer, and a variety of
factors, including the pressures of the 2016 presidential campaign,
could make the final deal a harder sell. Lawmakers from both
parties have expressed reservations over provisions in the deal in
recent days, including a number who voted in favor of earlier
legislation to move the pact forward.
"If a final agreement is announced, I will carefully scrutinize
it to see whether my concerns about rushing into a deal before
meeting all U.S. objectives are justified," said Sen. Orrin Hatch
(R., Utah), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, in a
statement.
Commercial regulations in the pact--including
intellectual-property rules and arbitration that lets investors
challenge governments--are meant to put pressure on China and other
developing countries with lax standards for trade and
investment.
Mr. Obama spoke with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
on Thursday about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, and
foreign diplomats say senior U.S. officials have pressed their
counterparts abroad in an effort to win support among the 12-nation
group for rules that would provide a long-term period of
exclusivity for biologic drugs, protecting the name-brand products
against generic imitators.
The U.S. has been pushing for up to 12 years of exclusivity for
biologics, with Australia insisting on five years of protection,
plus another year while regulatory steps are completed. Officials
in Atlanta were discussing a complicated compromise that would
provide eight years of exclusivity for biologics in some
circumstances, according to people following the talks.
Dozens of protesters descended on downtown Atlanta during the
talks, including a cancer patient who said she has taken three
biologic drugs and wants less exclusivity for major drug makers so
she can have access to cheaper generic alternatives. The protesters
was arrested and charged with trespassing after she declined to
leave the hotel hosting the talks.
Protesters screaming "stop TPP" burst into the hotel again on
Sunday, unveiling a sign in the lobby before security removed them.
Minutes later, protesters on an upper floor dropped leaflets
calling the TPP a "corporate power tool" into the lobby of the
Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel in downtown Atlanta.
U.S. labor unions and their allies among consumer and
environmental groups are among the biggest critics of the TPP. The
left-wing opposition has prevented Mr. Obama from getting many
fellow Democrats on board his trade policy.
If officials reach a deal, it would have to be approved by the
U.S. Congress and other parliaments. A handful of Democrats support
Mr. Obama's trade policy, and Republican support is unpredictable
in the 2016 election year, depending on the stance of presidential
candidates and new leadership in the House of Representatives.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 04, 2015 12:19 ET (16:19 GMT)
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