Working to Grow American Jobs Through Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region

Next week, the United States will welcome to San Francisco negotiators from seven countries for the second round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations. 

TPP is an exciting opportunity for the Obama Administration and the United States, because at heart TPP is about shaping America’s economic future.  We know that the Asia-Pacific is the most economically dynamic region in the world and will likely drive global growth in years to come.  Given this region’s critical importance, we should set enduring economic ties with the Asia-Pacific in a way that creates good jobs and sustainable growth in the United States.  In the TPP, we can sit down with seven like-minded nations to build a platform for economic integration across the Asia Pacific that works for Americans today and in the future.  We are looking forward to productive discussions with our counterparts from Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. 

Last week I met with all seven TPP trade ministers in Japan, and we directed our negotiators to work hard to build on the momentum from the first negotiating round in March in Melbourne, Australia.  While negotiations are in an early stage, we have already been doing new and innovative things in the TPP.  For example, we are doing everything we can to bring Americans’ priorities to the negotiating table.  We have an unprecedented partnership with Congress to best represent their priorities, and we have been sitting down with Americans around the country to hear their views.  In just the past few months, I have met with farmers in Sacramento, port operators in Philadelphia, and manufacturers and service providers Kansas City.  Next week I’ll be hearing from businesses and other stakeholders in Rhode Island and Connecticut.  We’ll continue this outreach across the country throughout this year.  

We are also bringing greater transparency to the talks.  We have built a terrific webpage at ustr.gov/tpp, where we are posting a wealth information and hearing from folks around the country.  The site recently hosted an online chat with our chief negotiator, and we will do more online chats in the future.  We have also invited stakeholders to the negotiating round in San Francisco to make sure they are informed as negotiations progress and will be updating those across America through a dedicated webpage at ustr.gov/tpp-san-francisco.

Building on this unprecedented outreach and transparency, we are working to build the TPP into a 21st century trade agreement that reflects our nation’s economic strengths as well as its values.  We want the TPP to work for all Americans – workers, farmers, ranchers, service providers, and businesses large and small. 

We are looking forward to a productive week of talks.  And I look forward to hearing from you. 

Ambassador Demetrios Marantis is the Deputy United States Trade Representative