((why is this not being reported in this country? hmmmm, maybe they don't want us to know, but why would that be?--alexis))
BALI, Indonesia -- Talks on a trans-Pacific trade pact are forging ahead with hopes of meeting a year-end deadline, officials said Saturday, despite U.S. President Barack Obama's absence due to the government shutdown.
Obama had intended to thrash out issues with leaders of the 11 other trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, member countries on the sidelines of the Asian-Pacific regional summit in Bali on Monday and Tuesday. Instead he ended up shelving the trip to focus on resolving the standoff over funding the U.S. government.
"I do want to make clear none of what is happening in Washington diminishes by one iota our commitment to our partners in Asia, including our efforts to promote trade and investment throughout the region," Secretary of State John Kerry, who is standing in for Obama, said Saturday.
Both Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Saturday that ministers were determined to put together a framework for the U.S.-led TPP, a trading bloc that Obama considers a vital part of the "rebalancing" of U.S. strategy toward Asia.
"The TPP countries are strongly committed to working to conclude negotiations this year," Froman said.
The TPP has been billed as a "21st century" trade agreement: an attempt not just to slash tariffs but tackle nontariff barriers to trade, while protecting labour rights. Participants, which account for 40 per cent of world trade, include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. More on this story here--
http://www.ctvnews.ca/u-s-pushing-trans-pacific-partnership-agenda
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