By Ben Otto
BORACAY, Philippines--Chile says negotiations for the
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal are at the final stage, and
the passage of a major legislation in the U.S. Friday moves
negotiators a step closer to holding concluding meetings.
"We are in the last stage of TPP negotiations," Chile's Deputy
Trade Minister Andres Rebolledo, who is representing Chile in
negotiations for the trade pact, told The Wall Street Journal on
Saturday.
Mr. Rebolledo, speaking on the sidelines of a regular meeting of
Asia-Pacific trade ministers, said the U.S. Senate's approval of
the so-called fast track legislation removes a key hurdle to
holding final TPP discussions, and that discussions about the
timetable for final talks could take place this weekend.
If the fast-track legislation, which gives the president powers
of trade promotion authority, or TPA, gains approval from
legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. President
Barack Obama would have the power to propose trade pacts to
Congress that legislators could reject or accept, but not
amend.
"There are many countries participating in TPP that have said
it's important to have on the table all the elements and the entire
context to make the last deal," Mr. Rebolledo said.
"That is going to come only in the moment that [U.S.
legislators] approve TPA not only in the Senate but also in the
House."
The trade deal, which has been under negotiations for more than
five years, includes the U.S., Japan and other countries accounting
for about 40% of the global economy.
Trade ministers in recent days canceled a ministerial meeting in
Guam after "most of the countries" involved in creating the TPP
objected to discussions without assurance of TPA in the U.S., he
said. None of the other countries face the same procedural
obstacles as the U.S., he added.
"The idea of that meeting was to make the last political deal,"
he said. Now that U.S. legislators are sending "good signals" on
TPA, "we have to retake that idea and say when we are going to have
that meeting."
Countries are discussing elements of the deal "at a technical
level," Mr. Rebolledo said, and "the most important next step...is
to have a meeting where you can make the last political
decision."
He said there could be discussions about the timetable for final
TPP talks this weekend, as ministers gather in the Philippines for
an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting. All 12 TPP member
nations--Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,
New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam--are APEC
members and have representatives at the meeting, although some
chief negotiators for the trade pact won't be present.
Mr. Rebolledo said negotiators for TPP and other regional pacts
are "are creating the new rules" of global trade, and described the
Pacific trade pact as a necessity for Chile, which depends heavily
on foreign trade and is the only TPP member that has existing
bilateral trade agreements with all other members. Those agreements
cover around 95% of Chile's exports, he said.
He said TPP would benefit Chile's relationships with Japan,
Malaysia and Canada in particular, as it would open up sectors such
as agriculture, dairy and meat, which aren't covered by existing
agreements.
"We are a small country," he said. "Some people say that in
Chile we breathe foreign trade."
"When you're a country like this, you need rules. You need that
everyone fulfills the rules, especially the big countries."
Write to Ben Otto at ben.otto@wsj.com