Trans-Pacific Partnership

HANOI – Trade officials from Japan, Australia and New Zealand, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministers meeting here, told Inside U.S. Trade they were not in favor of reopening provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a way to ensure its entry into force without the United States – citing a potential unraveling of the deal and the maintenance of the high standards agreed to when the U.S. was still involved.

Inside U.S. Trade talks to Ildefonso Guajardo Villareal about NAFTA, TPP and his first meeting with the new USTR.

HANOI -- Trade officials from the Trans-Pacific Partnership signatories on Sunday reiterated their commitment to finding a way for the deal to enter into force without the U.S., announcing here on Sunday they have tasked senior officials to assess a path forward ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in November.

Business and industry groups -- urging the administration to “do no harm” in its attempts to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement -- are also laying out initial wish lists for what an updated agreement should contain in response to the administration's notice of its intent to retool the deal this week.

Prime Minister Bill English wants to avoid a lengthy renegotiation.

Robert Lighthizer, slated to be sworn in as U.S. Trade Representative on Monday afternoon, will have a busy first week in office, meeting with congressional committees of jurisdiction to discuss the administration’s negotiating objectives for NAFTA and traveling to the two-day APEC trade ministers meeting in Vietnam, sources told Inside U.S. Trade.

Trade Minister Todd McClay: “We have agreed to continue to evaluate options under TPP that would deliver benefits for our citizens and the region.”

Members of Japan’s National Diet, speaking in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, stressed that Tokyo will not be able to make the same concessions it did in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks if the U.S. seeks a bilateral agreement with Japan instead -- and said detailed discussions on trade can’t happen until relevant U.S. agencies are adequately staffed.

Senior trade officials from the 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries are gathering for meetings in Toronto this week to discuss “potential next steps” for the agreement ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers’ summit in Vietnam later this month.