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‘Significant’ progress made on Asia trade deal: Ross
Ross spoke at a business forum in Bangkok organized alongside meetings hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Ross and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien are leading a downgraded American delegation.
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This combination of file pictures created on April 4, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump in St. Louis, Missouri on October 9, 2016 and China's leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on December 5, 2012. President Donald Trump announced on August 1, 2019 he will hit China with punitive tariffs on another $300 billion in goods, escalating his trade war after accusing Beijing of reneging on more promises. (AFP/Ed Jones, Paul J. Richards)
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ommerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Trump administration remained “fully committed” to the Indo-Pacific, amid questions over US strategy in the region fueled by the president’s absence from a regional summit.
Ross spoke at a business forum in Bangkok organized alongside meetings hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Ross and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien are leading a downgraded American delegation.
Negotiators from 16 nations are seeking a breakthrough on the world’s largest regional trade pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, after India jeopardized the deal with last-minute requests.
Leaders had planned to present a preliminary deal on Monday, paving the way for countries to finalize details on the legal framework of an agreement that would cover one-third of the global economy. The Philippines said Saturday that negotiations wouldn’t be completed until February.
The commerce secretary said in a morning keynote that the US will continue negotiating a free-trade accord in the region, with US Indo-Pacific trade at a record $2 trillion in 2018. He called engagement with the region a priority for Donald Trump.
Ross also addressed Trump’s protracted trade war with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, saying the US was “very far along” with “Phase One” of a deal. He expressed similar optimism in an interview with Bloomberg Sunday night on the sidelines of the summit, where he also said licenses would be coming “very shortly” for US firms to sell components to Huawei Technologies.
Kobsak Pootrakool, a deputy secretary-general to Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, said officials had worked “very hard” up until Sunday night to make “significant progress” toward an RCEP deal. “Thailand will continue to actively work with parties concerned in order to reach an agreement subsequently,” he said.
