The National Association of Farm Broadcasting served as the platform for speakers from the U.S Department of Agriculture and national farmers’ groups to hold a news conference on the benefits of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.
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President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, which recorded US$45.8bn in trade with the countries involved in 2014, may face problems in ratifying the TPP in a congress where many opposition politicians have expressed concerns. “While we are still reviewing this document, on almost all matters of immediate relevance to American working families and their communities, this agreement fails to deliver”. What this new free-trade agreement does is strengthen the US standing in the world and our overall economy, which desperately needs help.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and Foreign Minister Stephane Dion are now in Manila, the Philippines for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. There had been speculation that the U.S. Congress could then vote on the ratification of the deal as early as April 2016.
The primary goal of TPP is to eliminate barriers to trade.
Pharmaceutical interests are pushing for a lengthy period of patent exclusivity for certain types of drugs into the TPP agreement, far beyond what they have today. After the 12 original TPP parties announced their deal in October, however, Trade Sec.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday that world trade rules should be drafted within the framework of the World Trade Organization, not regional groupings.
Both Republicans and Democrats, including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, have opposed the TPP in the past, saying the 30 chapters plus add-on agreements, thousands of pages deal does not sufficiently protect American businesses or workers.
Obama noted that TPP is created to be an open and inclusive trade pact for countries that can meet its high standards. They will outline a detailed roadmap for worldwide trade between the USA and the 11 other TPP countries, which include Canada, Japan, Mexico and Singapore.
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Thailand urged all countries to promote economic integration, and suggested that all nations should develop their own economic reforms with Apec’s support and come up with broader structural reforms to improve global trade and the investment environment.
