On November 17, 2015, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) announced that has instituted an investigation to assess the likely impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that the President has announced he intends to enter into with Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The investigation, Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Likely Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Specific Industry Sectors (Investigation No. TPA-105-001), was requested by the U.S.…

On November 5, 2015, several of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) signatories posted the official texts of the TPP’s 30 chapters, annexes and tariff schedules. Several also posted the bilateral procedural documents (side texts, understandings and letter exchanges) that apply to them. The TPP text is still to undergo a process of legal review, translation and verification. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) is the Official Depositary and has the individual…

On October 5, 2015, the White House announced that Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, and Vietnam, agreed to the largest regional trade accord in history. The original negotiations were to end last week, but were extended over the weekend because agreement on the remaining issues appeared to be within reach. [Details will be available later. A Joint Ministerial press release was issued at a Press Conference…

On or about June 2, 2014, the US Trade Representative (USTR) posted on its website a document entitled, Trans-Pacific Partnership: Summary of U.S. Objectives which describes the Administration’s goals and objectives for TPP, and presents the main elements of each chapter from the United States’ perspective. The document states in part: The Obama Administration is pursuing TPP to unlock opportunities for American manufacturers, workers, service providers, farmers, and ranchers – to support job creation and…