But beyond the rhetoric,
business groups are looking for significant new export opportunities, while
critics of past trade deals say the proposed pact must be more than "NAFTA
in the Asia Pacific," referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement
they blame for US job losses to Mexico.
If the hopes of President
Barack Obama were met, the deal would satisfy both, ushering in a new era of
trade agreements in the region with stronger protections for workers and the
environment while still opening new markets to US exports.
"The president and I
intend for the Trans-Pacific Partnership to be our first 21st century trade
agreement," US Trade Representative Ron Kirk told the United States Asia
Pacific Council in a recent speech.
"One that creates and
retains US jobs, integrates US companies in Asia-Pacific production and supply
chains, and promotes new technologies and emerging economic sectors," he
added.
Still, a broad coalition of
labor, environmental and trade activist groups are planning a rally in San
Francisco on Monday to keep pressure on the Obama administration to negotiate a
deal that pays attention to their concerns.
Although starting with just
eight countries, the United States hopes the pact will eventually cover all
members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, including China.
That would address concerns
about "a line being drawn down the Pacific" with the United States on
the outside of regional integration efforts that center around China.
The proposed deal builds on
bilateral agreements the United States already has around the Pacific with
Singapore, Chile, Peru and Australia to create a bigger free trade zone.
US business groups,
frustrated with Obama's failure to push for congressional approval of
free-trade Agreements his predecessor negotiated with South Korea, Panama and
Colombia, are attempting to hold his feet to the fire.
They want the eight TPP
countries to set a goal this week of reaching a deal by the time by Obama hosts
an annual meeting of the 21 APEC leaders in Hawaii in November 2011.
They also want the countries
to pledge not to impose any new barriers to trade while the pact is being
negotiated.
That means Obama would have
to ride herd on any US lawmakers proposing measures such as the "Buy
American" provision of last year's stimulus bill.
"If we could get those
two things out of the next week, we would be very, very happy," said Tami
Overby, vice president for Asia at the US Chamber of Commerce.
The other TPP countries
include Peru, Chile, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand and Australia, which hosted
the first round of negotiations in March.
For many US exporters,
Vietnam is the real prize in the talks with its population of over 86 million.
It also represents the
biggest challenge since there is concern it will be hard for the fast-growing
developing country to agree to the same protections for workers and the
environment that other TPP members are expected to accept.
Critics are also raising
concerns about human rights abuses in both Vietnam and Brunei, a tiny country
on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia.
"Some are wondering if
Vietnam can do what it takes to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and
others are wondering if you should do it. My response to both of these
questions is a resounding 'Yes'," Deputy US Trade Representative Demetrios
Marantis said last week in a speech in Hanoi.
Still, negotiators have a lot
of ground to cover if they want to reach a deal by November 2011.
"This is going to be a
long-running complex negotiation of eight parties to get a new level of trade
agreement, to throw the old template up in the air and see if we can get
something better," one diplomatic official said.
The first round in Melbourne
was a good start, but countries are expected to come to San Francisco prepared
to take "a big step forward" in terms of defining the precise
objectives of the agreement in areas ranging from intellectual property rights
protection to standard setting, he said.
