Administration Hopeful TPP Will Be Implemented Early 2018, USTR Tells CES

The Obama administration hopes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (see 1512150039) will be implemented by the end of January 2018, though several hurdles remain, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Friday at a CES workshop webcast from Las Vegas. TPP legislation must first pass Congress, where an anti-TPP coalition recently formed, as well as be approved by several other countries’ governments, where signing the agreement into law requires more “gambles” than for this country, Froman said. One workshop attendee, Audio Control CEO Alex Camara, voiced concern that China compulsory certification regulations are unnecessarily complex and difficult, but also expressed excitement about the prospect for more uniform regulations under TPP. Froman said Camara’s was a “very common complaint,” and TPP “won’t necessarily harmonize standards,” but will prevent countries from forcing industry to adopt local standards not in line with international benchmarks. The TPP “builds upon obligations these companies already have to the World Trade Organization,” Froman said. “It goes further and makes sure we can enforce their openness as far as how standards are set, the application of international standards and making sure these are best practices.”