United States Trade Representative Michael Froman to Travel to Tokyo, Japan and Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Ambassador to engage with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministers and Ministers of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) nations
Washington, D.C. – United States Trade Representative Michael Froman will travel to Asia this month for meetings on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Ambassador Froman will stop in Tokyo, Japan on August 19 for a full day of meetings with his ministerial counterparts on the TPP. He will then continue on to Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, from August 20-23 for the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings on the margins of the nineteenth TPP negotiating round.
Ambassador Froman’s schedule in Brunei will include a meeting with the ASEAN Ministers under the ASEAN-U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement, an informal meeting of the East Asia Summit Economic Ministers, and the ASEAN-U.S. Business Summit. The Business Summit will provide an opportunity for business representatives from the U.S. and ASEAN to exchange views on promoting economic growth and innovation in Southeast Asia, and to convey their recommendations in direct dialogue with the ASEAN trade ministers. The meetings will also include a discussion of the progress of joint activities under the U.S.-ASEAN Expanded Economic Engagement (E3) initiative.
In addition to discussing the TPP and parallel bilateral negotiations in Japan, Ambassador Froman will also meet with TPP ministers in Brunei on August 22-23, as negotiators gather for the TPP talks. Ministers will discuss key outstanding issues and chart a course for the expeditious conclusion of a TPP agreement. Through the TPP, the United States is seeking to advance a 21st-century trade and investment framework that will boost competitiveness, expand trade and investment with the robust economies of the Asia Pacific, and support the creation and retention of U.S. jobs while promoting core U.S. principles on labor rights, environmental protection, and transparency. TPP Leaders have directed trade ministers and negotiators to seek to complete an agreement this year.
Ambassador Froman’s press availabilities will be announced in the coming days. Journalists should direct media inquiries to Carol Guthrie at cguthrie@ustr.eop.gov.
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