Japan, Korea & APEC

Transcript of Press Conference Call Remarks by Ambassador Michael Froman
on Trade Facilitation Agreement and Update on TPP, APEC

Washington D.C.
November 13, 2014

Opening Remarks by Ambassador Michael Froman at the 2014 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers' Meeting

Beijing, China
November 7, 2014
* As Prepared for Delivery*

"I would like to start by thanking China for its hospitality and continued leadership of this important forum.

"When APEC was founded 25 years ago, the global economic landscape was dramatically different.

Washington, D.C. - Ambassador Froman, Minister Amari and their teams met on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the outstanding issues in our bilateral TPP negotiations, focusing on agriculture and autos.  While there were constructive working level discussions over the weekend, we were unable to make further progress on the key outstanding issues. The United States continues to demonstrate a commitment to the level of ambition that all TPP countries agreed to attain when they entered negotiations.

Washington, D.C. – Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler and Chief Agricultural Negotiator Darci Vetter held two days of meetings with Ambassador Hiroshi Oe and MAFF Director General Makoto Osawa, of Japan, regarding TPP agriculture market access issues.  They continued to make some progress in narrowing the gaps on treatment of a range of agricultural products.  Dates for the next meetings will be set in the near future, and technical experts continue to meet this week.

Washington, D.C. – Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler and Ambassador Takeo Mori of Japan concluded three days of meetings regarding U.S.-Japan parallel negotiations on motor vehicle trade. Both governments continued to make steady progress and narrow the remaining differences, building on the momentum from meetings recently held in Tokyo. The United States and Japan are still working through a number of important issues, and dates for the next meetings will be set in the near future.

UPDATE:

2014 Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Qingdao Statement

2014 APEC Ministerial - Statement on Supporting Multilateral Trading System

Washington, D.C. - We have spent the past several weeks working to narrow gaps with Japan.  The round we just completed was focused but difficult.  After more than 20 hours of negotiations, we continue to make progress, and we are now faced with a reasonable number of outstanding issues.  These issues are important to both sides and considerable differences remain.

Washington, D.C. - During March 27-28, Acting Deputy USTR Cutler will meet Ambassador Hiroshi Oe of Japan in Washington, D.C., to continue bilateral market access negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Several days of working-level meetings on market access will also take place between the American and Japanese negotiating teams beginning March 26.

Washington, D.C. - Acting Deputy USTR Cutler and Ambassador Hiroshi Oe of Japan completed two days of negotiations on TPP market access issues, focusing on the treatment of agricultural products.  Limited progress was made so far this week and significant gaps remain. Working-level meetings will continue through Friday.  Cutler and Oe agreed to continue discussions on these issues in an effort  to narrow the gaps in the weeks ahead.  Dates for subsequent discussions will be set through diplomatic channels.