On April 10th, the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) heard U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, M.D. (R-LA), member of the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Trade, talk about the importance of a 21st-century Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and the need for Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to get there.
The Washington International Trade Association (WITA) hosted the event, titled “Update on TPP: The End-Game Dynamics Explained,” with the opening keynote by Rep. Boustany. After four years of negotiations, the endgame is in sight, but several difficult issues remain. With 95 percent of the world’s consumers outside of the United States, however, we need to work on those issues and complete the agreement. Consequently, “it would be an incredible disservice to this country” if we don’t pass TPA, TPP, and the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the EU, he said.
Rep. Boustany noted that he is a champion of international trade in the House, and he’s definitely not all talk. Last year, he joined with his colleagues Rep. David Reichert (R-WA), Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) to create the bipartisan Friends of TPP Caucus, which he says is working to “lay the groundwork for successful passage of the TPP” in Congress. He is now working on trade capacity building with Rep. Meeks, and the two will soon launch a new initiative on this issue. Still, he said, “we need all hands on deck” for trade, particularly to educate members about the importance of TPA, as most members today were not in Congress the last time TPA passed. In particular, although Republican support for TPA in the House is strong, more Democratic support in both the House and Senate is needed so the bill can truly be bipartisan.
What’s the outlook for TPP? According to Rep. Boustany, the lack of progress with Japan and Canada is an impediment to finalizing the agreement, and he hopes that President Obama will push Japan on market access when he visits Tokyo this month. In addition, he said, it’s important to continue discussions on 21st-century issues like IP protections, state-owned enterprises, investment, and financial services.
What about TPA? “We will get TPA,” said Rep. Boustany,” “so let’s stay at the negotiating table” and finish TPP, he added. He also touched on the importance of TPA for other agreements, such as TTIP, and noted that China is very interested in what happens with the Trade In Services Agreement (TISA), too.
Rep. Boustany concluded by saying that he was pleased to see so many people committed to trade in the audience, and he hopes industry sees him as a partner to push for a robust trade agenda.
Following the keynote, POLITICO trade reporter Doug Palmer moderated a discussion with several trade advocates in Washington: Tami Overby, Vice President for Asia for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Governor Matt Blunt, President of the American Automotive Policy Council; Craig Thorn, a partner at DTB Associates LLP who works on agriculture issues; and former Congressman Jim Kolbe, Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Overby provided a rousing call to action for industry to continue to educate government on the positive impact that TPP would have on U.S. economic growth, exports, and employment. She noted a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce study found that TPP would lead to 700,000 net jobs by 2025, so we can’t afford to wait.
On the outlook for TPP, Overby echoed Rep. Boustany on the importance of negotiations with Japan, noting that the country has “clear offensive interests.” While Japan is constructive on some issues, such as IP protections and state-owned enterprises, the country is not constructive on issues like market access. Japan “cannot get a pass” on market access, she said. In fact, if the United States and Japan are unable to break through on market access for autos and agriculture, the agreement might be stuck, especially since these industries will not settle for “business as usual” with Japan and thus will not support the agreement. How can we get Japan to move on these issues, as well as other countries? Overby said that the United States must show our willingness to open our market to our trading partners’ sugar, textiles, apparel, and footwear, so we can get the market access we need for our products.
Other speakers, including Thorn, agreed. He speculated that while the agreement may not necessarily unravel if we don’t get Japan to concede on market access, it will certainly become much less significant, and could have direct implications for future inclusion of other important countries like China, Taiwan, and Korea. It also has direct implications for TTIP, because if we get a lousy market access deal in TPP, it may set the precedent for future agreements.
Kolbe concluded by circling back to TPA, and called on the Administration to focus on TPA and set the objectives so they can conclude TPP.