Free Preview of Members-Only Content
To view the requested intelligence, you must be a Stratfor.com member.
The United States has formally committed to join the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York City. U.S. membership will give a huge boost to the fledgling trade group that comprises New Zealand, Singapore, Chile and Brunei. Simultaneous to the U.S. announcement, rumors have circulated that Australia, Vietnam and Peru also want to become members of the partnership.
The TPSEP (or P4) began in 2002 as an offshoot of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The agreement signed in 2005 by New Zealand, Singapore and Chile came into effect in May 2006. Brunei’s participation in the group remains provisional. The agreement called for members to cut 90 percent of their duties and tariffs to other members with the eventual target of eliminating all restrictions, as well as a set of standards for trade practices. From its outset, the P4 proclaimed its openness to newcomers, especially from the APEC states.
The possibility that Australia, Vietnam, Peru and the United States might sign on to TPSEP comes at a time when optimism about the World Trade Organization (WTO) is waning after repeated failures in the Doha Round of talks. New Zealand’s Trade Minister Phil Goff said as much on Sept. 22 by referring to members’ “frustration” with the WTO and praising the U.S. decision to bolster the P4.
The WTO Doha Round was invented to bring developing countries to the negotiating table with their richer counterparts in order to generate consensus for WTO directives. But these negotiations have fallen apart as major players bicker about agricultural subsidies and refuse to compromise, while minor players continue to resent the disproportional bargaining power of hulking global economies like the United States.
| Stratfor Members, please log in at the top left hand corner |
