US trade chief eyes bilateral ministerial TPP talks in weeks
Kyodo News International | September 9, 2014
U.S. trade chief eyes bilateral ministerial TPP talks in weeks
U.S. trade chief Michael Froman plans to hold meetings with his counterparts from countries involved in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade initiative in the coming weeks, his office said Wednesday.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative revealed the plan after chief negotiators from the 12 countries involved in the talks wrapped up a meeting in Hanoi.
Froman, U.S. trade representative, will meet with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh next week in Washington and "other meetings with TPP ministers are expected to follow," the office said.
Froman also sounded out Akira Amari, Japanese TPP minister, about holding a one-on-one meeting, Amari said earlier this week.
The United States, Japan, Vietnam and the nine other countries are seeking to conclude a deal early but have yet to arrange the next plenary meeting involving ministerial-level officials.
The office said the chief TPP negotiators made "important progress" on sectors such as state-owned enterprises, intellectual property, investment and rules of origin in the Hanoi talks.
The 12 countries in the U.S.-led initiative, also including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Singapore, "share a commitment to resolve the remaining issues as quickly as possible," it said.
