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No deadline for TPP talks: US Trade Rep

KUALA LUMPUR — US Trade Representative Michael Froman said yesterday there is no deadline to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks, although the United States has made “very significant” progress in negotiations with Japan towards ironing out a host of issues.

The TPP promotes poverty elimination, said Mr Froman. Photo: Kyodo News

The TPP promotes poverty elimination, said Mr Froman. Photo: Kyodo News

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KUALA LUMPUR — US Trade Representative Michael Froman said yesterday there is no deadline to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks, although the United States has made “very significant” progress in negotiations with Japan towards ironing out a host of issues.

“This is not something we are rushing into. We are in the end game. We are down to a reasonable number of outstanding issues,” he said in a panel discussion on the TPP, organised by Malaysian think tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs.

“We do not have a particular deadline. We are working to conclude it as soon as possible, consistent with the high standards we set for ourselves. This is going to be a comprehensive, ambitious and high-standard agreement,” Mr Froman added.

Talks to finalise what has often been touted as a “21st century” agreement began in 2010. Mr Froman arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday for a two-day visit. It was his sixth in the past two years, he said. The US has been trying to iron out the remaining stumbling blocks through bilateral talks with member countries involved in the TPP.

A major obstacle has been negotiations with Japan. Mr Froman said the US has made “very significant progress on market access, on agriculture and on autos” with Japan.

With Malaysia, Mr Froman noted the country’s concerns, especially on the sensitive “bumiputra” issues.

Bumiputra, or “Prince of the Soil”, refers mainly to the ethnic Malays who make up around 60 per cent of the country’s 29 million people. Bumiputras enjoy special privileges through the state affirmative action policy, because of the perception that they are still weak economically compared with the minority ethnic Chinese. Among the privileges the bumiputra are given is greater access to government contracts.

“Minister Mustapa and Prime Minister Najib (Razak) have made clear from the very start of the TPP how very important the bumiputra policy is to Malaysia, and our view is (that) it is truly a sovereign decision of Malaysia what direction it takes to improve the policy in the future,” Mr Froman said, referring to Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed whom he met on Wednesday.

The TPP, he stressed, promotes “inclusive growth and poverty elimination” and that increased trade will help that cause. The Malaysian government is facing increasing pressure from rights groups and civil societies to pull out from the talks.

But another challenge facing Malaysia is a proposed amendment by the US Senate Finance Committee to disqualify trade deals with countries that flout human trafficking laws while they consider the bill to fast-track the approval of the TPP in Congress.

Mr Froman said Congress will “determine how best to deal with that”.

His talk was interrupted by two anti-TPP activists who went on stage to unfurl a banner that read “USA, Hands Off Our Medicine”. Rights groups have expressed concerns that extending patent rights could lead to an increase in medicine costs.

“We have to strike a right balance to make sure there is ability to innovate but also that intellectual property rights regime is tailored to the particular circumstance of the country based on their stages of development and on their capacity and take into account that they do not raise the cost of medicine in the country,” Mr Froman said.

The TPP agreement involves Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam, which together account for about a third of global economic output.

If successfully concluded, the TPP would be the biggest trade deal sealed in the world in 20 years. KYODO NEWS

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