Trans-Pacific Trade Deal is Down to the Wire. Speak Now, Canadian Business

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By Lawrence Herman, The Globe and Mail May 12, 2015

A lot of balls are in the air, but a final Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is getting closer. It may be closer than we think, with a crucial meeting of top officials from all 12 negotiating countries slated to begin this week in Guam.

Some final horse-trading is needed. For one thing, the Americans have not yet struck a market access deal with Japan, a key component that will become part of a final TPP deal.

But the trans-Pactific agreement is definitely getting closer, and if the U.S. Congress agrees to give President Barack Obama his long-sought trade negotiating authority for these talks, things will really start to move.

Even at this late stage, apart from some leaked documents here and there, no one outside the negotiating room has detailed knowledge of the deal’s core contents. That’s unfortunate, since governments need to pave the way for public acceptance.

But we do know that when it is unwrapped, the machine will be very large and bulky, opening up a huge number of sectors for goods, services and investments. It will go well beyond the border and deep into the realm of domestic policy, including environmental protection, intellectual property, competition law and electronic commerce.

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