US to keep negotiating texts ‘classified’
Politico | 16 August 2017
US to keep negotiating texts ‘classified’
The first USTR official said the negotiating texts will not be released to the public because they are “classified” documents. That’s consistent with past negotiations, but will give critics ammunition to complain the deal is being negotiated in secret.
The United States hopes to update provisions throughout the agreement to support U.S. manufacturing and to expand market access for U.S. agriculture, the official said. It also wants to add a chapter on the digital economy and to incorporate and strengthen labor and environmental side agreements into the core of the pact.
Other issues likely to be discussed over the next five days include disciplines on state-owned enterprises, elimination of unfair subsidies and reducing burdensome regulation on intellectual property, the official said.
The United States will also “be calling for the establishment of appropriate mechanisms to combat currency manipulation and will be strengthening trade remedies, including the ability of the United States to rigorously enforce its trade laws,” he added.
The Trump administration has not yet decided whether to seek a continuation of the investor-state dispute settlement provision in the agreement, the trade official said. However, it will pursue the goal of reducing the trade deficit with Canada and Mexico in provisions through the agreement, he added.
