Trans-Pacific Partnership Remains on Hold for Time Being

With the latest round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations in Maui, Hawaii ending without a deal, U.S. supply managers may be adjusting to other global sourcing strategies.

“The TPP negotiations have long presented a lot of hope for manufacturers in the United States and the millions of jobs they impact,” said Linda Dempsey, Vice President of International Economic Affairs. “If done right, this agreement has the potential to boost U.S. manufacturing growth and global competitiveness.”

While Dempsey added that NAM was disappointed that a final, comprehensive and high-standard TPP could not be reached last week, she is hopeful this latest round of talks has identified areas of further agreement and that plans are underway to overcome roadblocks that will allow the TPP parties to finalize the strongest possible agreement in the near future.

“We are deeply appreciative of the hard work that United States Trade Representative Michael Froman and the entire U.S. negotiating team have put into these negotiations and urge their continued attention to the issues that are most critical to grow the U.S. economy and support high-paying jobs in the United States,” she said.

Rosemary Coates, executive director of the Reshoring Institute and President of Blue Silk Consulting, a Global Supply Chain consulting firm, agrees but with this caveat:

“The TPP is at best, difficult to understand,” she said. “There are a lot of arguments to be made on both sides of the agreement and it can be tough to wade through all of them and read the long associated text in articles for and against,”

Coates noted that increased trade helps create more jobs, including manufacturing jobs that pay more.

“In our quest to reshore manufacturing, we are trying hard to rebuild manufacturing in the U.S. and the TPP will help. One out of every five jobs in the U.S. can be tied to international trade (about 38 million jobs),” she said.

NAM's Dempsey was equally adamant:

“From the beginning, manufacturers have been loud and clear on the TPP: a strong agreement must embrace priorities that will fuel manufacturing growth in the United States, including through concrete new market access, the protection of intellectual property, provisions to enable e-commerce and a level playing field, fair treatment and strong property and investment protection standards, all of which must be enforceable for all industries.”

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