Trans-Pacific trade negotiators face high-wire act in Hawaii

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - Pacific Rim officials meet
in Hawaii this week for talks that could make or break an
ambitious trade deal which aims to boost growth and set common
standards across a dozen economies ranging from the United
States to Brunei.
Trade ministers go into the talks, which run July 28-31 on
the island of Maui, with high hopes of an agreement to conclude
the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the most sweeping trade
deal in a generation and a legacy-defining achievement for U.S.
President Barack Obama.
But the toughest issues have been left until last, including
monopoly periods for new life-saving medicines and preferential
treatment for state-owned companies as well as more traditional
trade issues such as opening protected markets to competition.
"This meeting will be extremely important to decide the fate
of the TPP negotiations," Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari
told reporters on Friday.
"I believe all the nations will come to the meeting with
their strong determination that it has to be the last one."
But Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast was more cautious,
warning last week that there is a "lot of hard work to be done
before this agreement is put to bed."
Canada's refusal so far to accept more dairy imports is a
major sticking point in the talks, infuriating the United States
as well as New Zealand, which has said it will not sign a deal
that fails to open new dairy markets.
Failure to agree this week will endanger an already tight
timeline to get a deal through the divided U.S. Congress this
year, before the 2016 presidential campaign dominates the
agenda.
A six-week battle over U.S. legislation to streamline the
passage of trade deals through Congress finally ended in late
June, sparking a rush of negotiations to ready ministers to take
the tough decisions needed to wrap up the talks. ID:nL1N0ZA1PK
Tami Overby, senior vice president for Asia with the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, said it would be very difficult to keep the
momentum going if ministers fail to reach agreement this week,
although she added that she was optimistic of success.
A U.S. official said talks would continue if there was no
finalized agreement in Maui.
Peruvian unions, however, recently filed a complaint with
the U.S. Department of Labor, alleging that their government is
failing to meet standards contained in a 2009 U.S.-Peru trade
deal, which, like the TPP, is supposed to ensure
internationally-recognized labor benchmarks.
Workers' rights in TPP countries, especially Vietnam, have
been a key concern for U.S. Democratic lawmakers, many of whom
fear the trade deal will eliminate U.S. jobs partly because of
lower labor standards overseas. ID:nL2N0X42BX
Some trade diplomats from TPP nations doubted whether
negotiators, who convened on July 24, and ministers could
produce a detailed agreement by Friday. One option would be to
reach an in-principle deal and then finalize details later.
"There is a big question over whether they can get through
all that work - and it's a huge amount - in less than two
weeks," one official said.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Factbox on outstanding issues: ID:nL1N103036
Graphic on TPP trade flows: http://link.reuters.com/vyf35w
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>