Japan’s decision to lower or eliminate tariffs on rice, pork and beef may end up giving the prime minister a headache as he tries to get the trade accord through Parliament.
About 98% of US exporters are small businesses.
Cargo ship via www.shutterstock.com
The Trans-Pacific Partnership may not be a done deal, but Australia cannot avoid the realities of the cut-throat business of international capital, trade and investment.
The new Trans-Pacific trade deal has its sights squarely on financial services.
Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com
Amy Auster, Australian Centre for Financial Studies
Trade minister Andrew Robb must now “sell” the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership - he could do worse than to concentrate on how our services sector will gain.
Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb says the TPP is ‘the biggest global trade deal in 20 years’.
Erik S. Lesser/EPA/AAP
There’s still some way to go before the 12 countries involved can celebrate.
Representatives of the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries at a press conference in Atlanta, after a deal was reached.
EPA/Erik S. Lesser
Before the last round of negotiations, only a handful of issues remained in the way of concluding the TPP. A potential deal-breaker for Australia was intellectual property protections for biologics.
The US sealed a deal with Japan, Australia and nine other countries on the biggest trade deal since the WTO was founded in 1995. But no time for champagne just yet, a few obstacles remain.
The balance of trade positions of Australian agriculture and food manufacturing have deteriorated since FTAs with New Zealand, the United States and Thailand have come into play.
Flickr/Phil Greenhalgh
Disputes over intellectual property and car parts are emerging as last-minute hurdles as negotiators race to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership ahead of elections.
Trade minister Andrew Robb attends negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership in Sydney last year.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP Image
Over the next few weeks, the trade minister will be under intense pressure to renege on the government’s commitment to reject anything in the Trans Pacific Partnership that could undermine the PBS.
Negotiators appear to be giving Japan’s rice farmers short shrift.
Rice via www.shutterstock.com
Japanese negotiators in Maui appear to be bending to American pressure to accept more US rice imports. The flood of grain, local farmers say, will end their way of life.
Republicans and Democrats have a hard time agreeing on anything, but the issue of trade seems to defy party affiliation.
Teeter totter via www.shutterstock.com
Events in Washington this week on the proposed historic 12-member Trans-Pacific trade agreement have had all the key elements of a Shakespearean tragedy. A resolute, noble and well-intentioned ruler (played…
Unimpressed MEPs take a stand on TTIP.
EPA/Patrick Seeger
MEPs are fuming that they were denied a debate on the controversial trade deal.
If the proposals are agreed, they could delay the market entry of generic medicines in the region – and the impact will be felt around the world.
Jeng_Niamwhan
Seven rounds of negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership have already taken place with virtually no public debate. The next round of negotiations begins today in Kyoto, Japan.
President Clinton trumpeted NAFTA’s labor protections when he signed the deal into law in 1993.
Reuters
Washington is in the midst of a heated debate over President Obama’s proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. It certainly has created some unorthodox political bedfellows. The president is…
Research Fellow, NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University