Australia and New Zealand

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) this week suggested that limiting the Trans-Pacific Partnership to a bilateral U.S.-Japan free trade agreement could be a way to get President-elect Donald Trump on board.

“It is important that we give the new president a chance put his team in place and consider his trade agenda. We will be able to work with America on trade.”

The prime minister still hopes for a revised deal with the Trump administration.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in its submission to an Australian Senate committee tasked with reviewing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, expressed concern that the United States would demand that Australia take on additional commitments on biologic drugs before the agreement can enter into force for the country – citing precedent in the certification process of the two countries' bilateral free trade agreement.

Ambassadors from Trans-Pacific Partnership countries this week pledged to accelerate their efforts to ensure the agreement is passed during a lame-duck session of Congress and reiterated the importance of the United States to the global trading system and its TPP partners.

New Zealand's ambassador to the U.S. said Tuesday that the Trans-Pacific Partnership has a chance to pass Congress in a lame-duck session despite congressional leaders' insistence that the votes aren't there, reiterating his stance that a successful TPP vote will depend largely on support from House Republicans.

As Congress heads into a recess that will last until after the Nov. 8 elections, the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s ultimate fate in a lame-duck session remains unclear with Republican leadership this week saying it will not be considered in either chamber while some sources suggest the Obama administration has created the conditions for a vote to occur later this year.