The world’s biggest regional trade deal – Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) – is still within reach despite Australia walking away
empty-handed from the latest talks, the federal government says.
The trade minister, Andrew Robb, confirmed that a conclusion was not be
reached on the $200bn deal during the latest round of negotiations in
Hawaii.
“Australia had made some excellent progress but unfortunately some difficult issues were not resolved,” he said on Saturday.
Robb has laid the blame for the failure to come to an agreement with the
“big four” economies of the US, Canada, Japan and Mexico. “The sad
thing is, 98% is concluded,” he said.
“While we didn’t quite get there, we are definitely on the cusp.”
Concerns around automotives, data protection of biologics, dairy and
sugar remain sticking points, but they are not impossible to resolve,
Robb said.
“From my reading, the issues are not intractable and there remains a real determination to conclude the TPP among all parties.”
Farmers were disappointed by the outcome but said it was important to
get a good deal. National Farmers Federation deputy chief Tony Mahar
told Sky News: “We really hope that we can get a successful agreement
for farmers within the next few months.”
Robb faces a tussle at home over the deal, with Nationals MPs demanding a
decent deal for sugar farmers. Half a dozen federal Nationals indicated
they would cross the floor when the agreement comes before the
parliament if only a token result is achieved.
The US allows sugar imports based on a quota system, with Australian
cane farmers now allowed to send about 100,000 tonnes there a year. The
farmers would like to raise this to more than 500,000 tonnes but the
Americans are holding out.
The agreement involves 12 nations including the US, New Zealand, Japan
and Canada, and covers about 40% of the global economy. Talks are
expected to resume in November.
Failure to seal the agreement will be a setback for the US president,
Barack Obama, given the trade pact’s stance as the economic arm of the
administration’s pivot to Asia and an opportunity to balance out China’s
influence in the region.
The talks, which drew about 650 negotiators, 150 journalists and
hundreds of stakeholders to the Hawaiian island of Maui, had been billed
as the last chance to get a deal in time to pass the US Congress this
year, before 2016 presidential elections muddy the waters.
The deal seeks to meld bilateral questions of market access for exports
with one-size-fits-all standards on issues ranging from workers’ rights
to environmental protection and dispute settlement between governments
and foreign investors.
Negotiators from the 12 TPP members had worked through the night and
officials said great strides were made in many contentious areas.
