The U.S. trade chief said Tuesday that the Trans-Pacific Partnership initiative aims at a higher level of trade liberalization than the accord reached by Japan and Australia, playing down the impact of the bilateral agreement on the broader TPP negotiations.
"I don't think it (the Japan-Australia free trade agreement) has much effect one way or the other" on the 12-country TPP talks, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, who is slated to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Akira Amari, in Tokyo on Wednesday to discuss outstanding TPP issues.
Referring to the reduction of Japanese tariffs on Australian beef agreed by the two countries, Froman said he is "looking for a level of an ambition in TPP that is significantly higher than that."