S'pore asks U.S. to back a Pacific Five trade pact<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (Reuters): Singapore Trade Minister Trade George
\nYeo urged the United States on Tuesday to build on its separate
\nfree trade talks with Chile and Singapore to craft a Pacific Five
\ntrade pact that would also include Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
In a speech to the Institute for International Economics, Yeo
\nsaid the cross-regional trade agreement should also eventually
\ninclude South Korea, making it a P6 pact.<\/p>\n
A free trade agreement covering the United States, Singapore,
\nChile, New Zealand and Australia has been discussed for a number
\nof years, but \"it needs a political push from the new (U.S.)
\nadministration,\" Yeo said.<\/p>\n
Former President Bill Clinton launched separate free trade
\ntalks with Singapore and Chile last fall but was unable to
\nconclude an agreement with either country before leaving office.<\/p>\n
A P5 or P6 trade agreement would build on a trend of bilateral
\nand regional free trade agreements in the absence of a new round
\nof global trade talks.<\/p>\n
Yeo said Singapore remained strongly committed to launching
\nnew trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization as soon
\nas possible, however.<\/p>\n
The third round of U.S.-Singapore talks will be held in
\nSingapore in May. The two countries are also conducting some
\nnegotiations using two-way video equipment, Yeo said.<\/p>\n
Remaining differences are \"relatively minor,\" and a final
\nagreement could be reached soon, Yeo said, adding that he and
\nU.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick had \"almost a complete
\nmeeting of the minds\" on Monday.<\/p>\n
On the sensitive issues of labor and the environment, which
\nare important to many Democratic members of the U.S. Congress,
\nYeo said he told Zoellick that Singapore would go \"along with
\nwhatever he's comfortable with.\"<\/p>\n
Crafting a formula to handle those issues is one of the
\nbiggest challenges Zoellick faces this year as he tries to
\npersuade Congress to give the Bush administration the authority
\nto negotiate new multilateral trade pacts.<\/p>\n
Most Republicans oppose labor and environmental provisions in
\ntrade pacts. They worry that developing countries will view the
\nmeasures as protectionist and be scared away from talks.<\/p>\n
Zoellick told The Washington Post in a story published on
\nTuesday that he was studying an approach used in a free trade
\npact between Canada and Chile. It provides for monetary fines
\ninstead of sanctions on exports if the countries fail to honor
\nlabor and environmental commitments.<\/p>\n
Yeo said it was still too early to predict whether WTO members
\nwould launch a new round of trade talks at the group's next
\nministerial meeting, in Qatar in November.<\/p>\n
He urged supporters of new global talks to use the Asia-
\nPacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Shanghai in
\nOctober and similar meetings to set the stage for a new round
\nwithin a year.<\/p>\n
U.S. officials also say they hope the APEC summit meeting,
\nwhich China is holding for the first time, will generate momentum
\ntoward new WTO negotiations.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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