TPP would ’upgrade’ US trade pacts, says US Commerce chief
February 4, 2014, 7:15 p.m. ET
TPP would ’upgrade’ US trade pacts, says US Commerce chief
By Laurence Iliff and Anthony Harrup
MEXICO CITY—U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said Tuesday that the proposed 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership would be an "upgrade" to older deals like the North American Trade Agreement, and that the Obama administration was working to educate some members of Congress on why a fast-track negotiating path is necessary.
"There’s bipartisan support for trade promotion authority on the Hill," Ms. Pritzker said in an interview, referring to the "fast-track" process that allows trade agreements to be voted on more quickly. "There’s also a process of education that needs to go on," she said, among Congress members who weren’t yet elected when the last fast-track process was approved.
Ms. Pritzker was in Mexico at the head of a trade mission, including 17 U.S. companies with interest in investing in Mexico.
The proposed new trade deal among Asia-Pacific countries, called the TPP, is designed "to create a high-standard global trade agreement that addresses a bunch of issues that have not been addressed before in our trade agreements," said Ms. Pritzker, who took up her current post seven months ago.
"For example, e-commerce, or intellectual property protections, or state-owned enterprises, or our values around the environment and labor, " she said. "And frankly, if we don’t do it, I think that someone else is going to set the standard."
The TPP seeks to lower tariffs and open markets among 12 Asia-Pacific countries, including the three North American partners Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Talks last December ended without agreement, and are to continue this year, although the U.S. was dealt a blow when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he opposed the "fast track" process that would allow the administration to negotiate agreements to be voted on in an up-or-down fashion, but not to be amended.
Ms. Pritzker said the proposed TPP deal, which includes Japan but not China, represents a 21st century "upgrade" for older deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada that took effect 20 years ago. The official described Nafta as a groundbreaking agreement with benefits for all its members.
Among the controversial elements of the TPP in the U.S. are fears of job losses to other nations as a result of free trade, and worries that dispute-resolution mechanisms in the deal would allow large companies to challenge a country’s domestic laws in areas like consumer protection and the environment.
Write to Laurence Iliff at laurence.iliff@wsj.com
