US, ASEAN trade ministers to discuss market opening efforts

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said Monday she would meet Southeast Asian counterparts to review progress of a trade and investment initiative and the Doha Round of global trade talks.

The meeting on the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA) will be held in Bali, Indonesia from May 1 to 4 as a follow up to talks held in November, Schwab's office said in a statement.

The United States inked the TIFA in August 2006 with the 10-member ASEAN in a deal seen as a precursor to a full free-trade agreement.

Under the TIFA, the United States and ASEAN would have a formal ministerial dialogue aimed at expanding trade and investment.

"Building on our TIFA talks in November, we will take stock of the progress we have made with our ASEAN partners and lay the groundwork for our joint efforts going forward," Schwab said.

"We will also discuss how best to maximize the prospects of a near-term breakthrough in the Doha Round negotiations," she added.

Trade between the United States and ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has grown significantly during the past decade.

ASEAN was the fifth largest export market for the United States in 2007, with US exports totaling 61 billion dollars, according to the statement.

In addition, US foreign direct investment in ASEAN countries reached 99 billion dollars in 2006, up 13 percent from the previous year, according to latest available US data.

The statement said Schwab would meet with the ASEAN ministers as well as her counterparts from Australia and New Zealand to help achieve a "successful market-opening outcome" on the WTO negotiations.

The WTO's Doha round of talks to reduce trade barriers was launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 with the aim of reaching a deal by 2004, but has foundered ever since, principally in disputes between developed and developing countries on agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs.

U.S., Cambodian senior officials meet on trade, investment

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The United States Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab met with Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh on Wednesday in Cambodia to discuss ways to broaden and deepen bilateral trade and investment ties, said a press release.

Schwab and Prasidh discussed Cambodia's recent strong economic growth, its domestic reform agenda, and implementation of legal and trade reforms committed to under Cambodia's 2004 accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), said the release from the U.S. Embassy.

"Cambodia is working hard to put the right policies in place to support an open and welcoming environment for trade and investment," said Schwab in the release.

"There has been real progress on the ground. We will continue to work together to build momentum to sustain these reform efforts," Schwab said.

The two officials also reviewed Cambodia's current efforts to improve trade facilitation, protect intellectual property rights and enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of Cambodia's investment climate, said the release.

Discussions focused on marking the progress Cambodia is making in meeting the benchmarks for implementation of WTO-consistent trade practices, as well as highlighting areas where additional work remains to be done, it said.

The two countries agreed upon a plan of action under the U.S.-Cambodia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), which will add momentum for trade-related reforms within Cambodia, it said.

The two ministers also discussed their mutual interest in a successful conclusion to the WTO Doha negotiations and the instrumental role that Cambodia can play as a least developed country (LDC) in contributing to that outcome, it added.

The visit is the first to the country by a U.S. trade representative and included a bilateral meeting under the TIFA, which was signed in 2006 and is the primary bilateral dialogue between the two governments to discuss implementation of these commitments and other trade and investment related issues.

Total two-way goods trade between the U.S. and Cambodia amounted to 1.95 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of this year and totaled 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2006.

U.S. foreign direct investment in Cambodia is approximately one million U.S. dollars.

Primary U.S. exports include vehicles and machinery and the U.S. is Cambodia's largest export market. Cambodia's major exports to the U.S. are knit and woven apparel.

Cambodia joined the WTO in 2004 as a least developed country (LDC) and agreed as part of its accession to implement WTO-consistent trading rules over a five-year transition period.

US rules out free-trade deal with ASEAN, citing Myanmar

Nov 20, 2007
DPA

Singapore - Current political conditions in Myanmar make a free-trade deal between the United States and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) impossible in the near term, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said.

The relationship 'can't be business as usual,' she said as ASEAN readied for Tuesday's signing of a landmark charter giving the 40-year-old regional grouping legal status and committing the members to pursuing human rights, democracy and a blueprint for economic integration by 2015.

ASEAN leaders recognize that the bloc's reputation and credibility have been undermined by the situation in military-ruled Myanmar, where troops fired on peaceful protesters in September, killing at least 15.

Schwab, who is on a two-day visit to Singapore, met Monday with economic ministers to discuss progress made under the US-ASEAN Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement, signed a year ago.

'The issue of Burma did come up, and I expressed our concern,' she told reporters. 'ASEAN has special responsibility when it comes to the situation in Burma.'

Despite the US Senate's unanimous vote Friday, urging ASEAN to suspend Myanmar until the regime shows respect for human rights, ASEAN is dealing with the issue within the 'family.'

ASEAN leaders have called off a planned summit briefing by UN Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, scheduled for Wednesday, after Myanmar objected.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in the city-state's capacity as ASEAN chairman, said Myanmar made it clear that it prefers to deal directly with the United Nations, and ASEAN leaders respect its wishes.

Singapore had invited Gambari to brief ASEAN leaders and their counterparts from China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The US has a free-trade agreement with Singapore. It also has trade and investment framework arrangements (TIFA) with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Ten-member ASEAN signed a TIFA deal in August 2006, regarded as a precursor to liberalizing trade.

'The fact that we have a TIFA with ASEAN means we have the potential for creating the building blocks down the road,' Schwab said.

ASEAN includes Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.