Print

Mail

wiki links

US aims to forge Asian trade pacts

Market access * US President George W. Bush two years ago announced a plan to sign free-trade pacts with Southeast Asian nations * So far, the US has only signed a deal with Singapore * US-Thailand free-trade talks appear to be stalled by US demands for IPR protection and Thai requests for access to low-cost drugs * US trade with Southeast Asia totals US$127 billion * The US says its trade deals are comprehensive, and therefore take more time than rivals such as China, which has signed a free-trade deal with ASEAN

Deputy US Secretary of State Robert Zoellick is determined to break a free-trade impasse with Southeast Asia during a visit to the region this week but has cautioned that any agreement reached will have to be comprehensive.

Two years after US President George W. Bush announced an initiative to forge free-trade pacts with export-driven, economically-booming Southeast Asian nations, Washington has managed to strike only one deal so far -- with Singapore.

But the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement cannot be a benchmark for Southeast Asia as the island city state is already largely tariff free.

So, many economies in the region have been following closely the protracted US-Thailand free trade negotiations, which seem to have been bogged down over US demands for stringent intellectual property rights protection and Thai requests for access to low-cost pharmaceuticals.

Zoellick told reporters at the weekend that he would try to break the free-trade deadlock when he meets with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Bangkok, the first stop of his regional swing that will also include Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.

"One of the purposes of my visit, since in the case of the negotiations with Thailand the Thai prime minister plays a very key, leading role, will be to talk to him on some of the key elements to move this forward," said Zoellick, who was US trade representative before his new assignment.

Southeast Asia is key to the US as it hosts approximately US$88 billion in US direct investment and is the third largest overseas market for US exports. US trade with the region totals US$127 billion.

Zoellick was quick to point out that any perceived delay by the US in striking free-trade deals with Southeast Asian nations was due to the comprehensive nature of the negotiations.

Citing competitor China's swift free-trade deals with ASEAN, Zoellick said, "I think the Chinese have been very shrewd in how they handled this.

"Here I don't want to get too technical but there are lots of different types of free trade agreements. People use the term loosely," he said, acclaiming US free-trade agreements as "the top of the class product."

He said the US pacts tried to cover agricultural products, services, intellectual property, government procurement, environment and labor, as opposed to the China-ASEAN deal which largely centered on manufactured goods.

China and ASEAN last year signed a deal to liberalize trade barriers and pave the way for a more comprehensive accord planned for 2010 that could see the creation of the world's largest free-trade zone covering nearly 2 billion people.
This story has been viewed 1599 times.