U.S. Trade Rep Confident About Trans-Pacific Partnership [View all]

[limpyhobbler]

SINGAPORE–The top U.S. trade negotiator said he doesn’t see plans for an Asia-only trade pact that would bind China and Japan to other economies throughout the region as a threat to U.S. economic interests.

Instead, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said he wants to accelerate efforts to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, which includes a handful of Southeast Asian countries but excludes China and Japan, at least for now.

“I am reasonably confident we’ll get the TPP finished before the [Asia-wide free trade zone] comes into being” Mr. Kirk said in a telephone interview Sunday, even though discussions about a free trade area across Asia have gathered momentum recently.

Mr. Kirk spoke from Hanoi, where he met with Vietnamese officials after taking part in a meeting of economic chiefs from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia.
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http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/09/03/u-s-trade-rep-confident-about-trans-pacific-partnership/

And another good read from the Democratic Party platform:
TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) trade agreement makes it into the Democratic Party Platform

It's official.