The New York Times reports today (August 1, 2015) that the final negotiating meeting of the TPP has failed to conclude the agreement and that the negotiators have return home to attempt to get sign-off on a small number of final sticking points. The report states that the stumbling block to a final agreement is the same agricultural protectionism that has bedeviled trade talks for decades, Dairy products in Canada, Sugar in the US, and Rice in Japan.
The report goes on to say that Australia, Chile, and New Zealand strongly oppose the US push for 12 years of data protection for pharmaceuticals. Australia continues to strongly oppose the 12 years saying that anything longer than 5 years will never get through the Australian parliament. Chile also see no need of a compromise on the pharmaceutical issue as they already have trade agreements with the TPP members.
Although the group expresses the usual optimism about meeting again “soon” to finalize the agreement, the divisions are apparently deep and it seems likely that the agreement is not in a position to be finalized unless some of the demands, including the 12 years protection for pharmaceuticals, are dropped. At best this will push the US ratification process into 2016, the election year, which will be very uncomfortable for the Democrats who largely oppose the TPP. More likely it will take longer to get final agreement and ratification meaning that it will ultimately be signed into law by the next President, whoever that may be.
