With the conclusion of the 18th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations last week in Malaysia, members of the U.S. Business Coalition for TPP sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman focusing on the need to reach agreement on the liberalization of protected sectors of all TPP partners. IDFA is a member of the coalition, along with 35 other business groups and associations.

The letter called for “trade liberalization – at home as well as abroad, including with respect to the few sectors of the U.S. economy, such as textiles and apparel, sugar and footwear, that continue to receive relatively substantial protection from import competition compared to most other sectors.”

Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president, traveled to Malaysia and met with lead negotiators from several TPP partners to discuss the need for the United States to reform the U.S. sugar program. “To help TPP negotiations move forward, significant additional access to our domestic market for imported sugar from other TPP countries, especially Australia, is necessary,” said Hough. 

TPP negotiating partners include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States and Vietnam.

For more information, contact Beth Hughes, IDFA director of international affairs, at bhughes@idfa.org.