More bad news from Japan for fans of the Trans Pacific Partnership. Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, it just did.

Most serious is concerns about U.S. electronic eavesdropping (a.k.a. spying) on Japan are becoming a public issue and another potential embarrassment for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. His initial reaction was seen as too soft.

An op-ed in the influential Asahi Shimbun asks why the U.S. is treating Japan as an enemy. Good question. Japanese industrialists who feel short changed by the TPP are upset that they too were targets of the intercepts.

Read more at: http://ipolitics.ca/2015/08/11/is-the-tpp-even-possible-without-japan

Trade expert Peter Clark was in Lahaina, Hawaii, for the recent talks at the Trans Pacific Partnership Ministerial meeting.  As the clock ticks toward the ‘deadline’ for an agreement and as pressure to conclude a deal continues, he is continuing to provide updates on the state of negotiations. 

The extreme secrecy of the Trans‑Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations has generated much criticism from those on the outside trying to look in.  Post Maui has been a busy week for TPP negotiators.  Early assessments of work to be done have been scrapped.  A USTR briefing to Congress has provided an unprecedented glimpse at how much remains undone.

Read more at: http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2015/08/09/trouble-in-paradise/#.Vld7HXarSUk

Trade expert Peter Clark was in Lahaina, Hawaii, for the recent talks at the Trans Pacific Partnership Ministerial meeting.  He is continuing to provide updates on the state of negotiations as the clock ticks toward the ‘deadline’ for an agreement. 

Canada is playing an important role in the TPP negotiations.  I never doubted this, but the frustration and anger at Maui – and the shock and after shock of the missed opportunity – has shed unprecedented light on the issues.

The TPP is important and can be completed – but this must happen soon. Alan Wolff, Chair of the US National Foreign Trade Council, published an excellent overview in Fortune Magazine.  Mr. Wolff has been involved in trade negotiations since the Uruguay Round and as Deputy USTR and General Counsel negotiated important agreements and was very much involved in drafting US trade legislation. His is sound analysis and reasoned comment – not hyperbole.

Read more at: http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2015/08/06/tpp-success-will-require-more-give-less-take/#.Vld7g3arSUk

Trade expert Peter Clark was in Lahaina, Hawaii, for the recent talks at the Trans Pacific Partnership Ministerial meeting.  The following  is his post-game analysis.

No one should be surprised that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators meeting in Maui fell short of its objectives.

The Ministers made progress. Success was in sight but the light at the end of the tunnel turned out to be a freight train.

The closing media conference was described in an email to me as a “Gong Show”.  It was.  It revealed little – and hid the anger and frustration which characterized the four day negotiating summit.

Japanese media reports Prime Minister Abe was shocked by the failure of what was to be the final Ministerial meeting. New Zealand took the brunt of the blame from Japan.  New Zealand adopted an unexpected hard line stance for more dairy exports at the last minute with a particular focus on access to US and Japanese dairy markets.

Read more at: http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2015/08/04/tpp-ministers-gob-smacked-in-maui/#.Vld75XarSUk