During
his nearly two-week trip to Asia President Trump discussed bilateral trade
relations with the leaders of Vietnam, China, Philippines and other countries
but came away with no specific deliverables. At the same time, the 11 remaining
members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership advanced their effort to modify and
implement that agreement.
In a joint statement, the U.S. and Vietnam said they would work to “deepen and
expand” their trade and investment relationship through formal mechanisms,
including their trade and investment framework agreement. They welcomed the
return of market access for U.S. distillers dried grains into Vietnam and new
access for Vietnamese star apples into the U.S. and committed to seek
resolution of remaining agricultural trade issues, including with respect to
catfish, shrimp, and mangoes. They also pledged to promote “free and fair”
trade and investment in priority areas such as electronic payment services,
automobiles, and intellectual property rights enforcement.
By contrast, a statement with China emphasized longstanding U.S. complaints but
gave no indication of any agreement on joint efforts going forward. President
Trump underscored the importance of “rebalancing” trade relations with China in
a way that “strengthens American jobs and exports.” He also called on China to
guarantee “fair and reciprocal treatment” to U.S. companies, provide greater
market access to U.S. exports and firms, and accelerate the implementation of
market-oriented reforms to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. Trump also
criticized government intervention in the Chinese economy, which he said “has
caused stresses in the global trading system,” and reiterated that the U.S.
“will use all available trade remedies to create a level playing field for
United States workers and businesses.”
With respect to the Philippines, the U.S. said that it welcomed Manila’s
interest in a bilateral free trade agreement and that the idea would be
discussed further under the bilateral TIFA. The U.S. is also looking to the
TIFA for progress on agricultural, IPR, customs, labor, and other issues.President
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the TPP in January, raising questions about its
future. On Nov. 11, however, ministers of the remaining signatories (Australia,
Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore,
and Vietnam) said that after months of work on recrafting the agreement to
achieve “a balanced outcome that maintains the significant benefits of the TPP”
they had agreed on the core elements of what is now being called the
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. This
includes suspending 20 sections of the original TPP that reportedly could be
reinstated should the U.S. ever rejoin the agreement. Ministers noted that
consensus still needs to be reached on a few specific items and that technical
work toward that end will continue.
Source: CNBC Africa, U.S.A Wednesday, 15 November 2017