SINGAPORE–The top U.S. trade negotiator said he doesn’t see plans for an Asia-only trade pact that would bind China and Japan to other economies throughout the region as a threat to U.S. economic interests.
Instead, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said he wants to accelerate efforts to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, which includes a handful of Southeast Asian countries but excludes China and Japan, at least for now.
“I am reasonably confident we’ll get the TPP finished before the [Asia-wide free trade zone] comes into being” Mr. Kirk said in a telephone interview Sunday, even though discussions about a free trade area across Asia have gathered momentum recently.
Mr. Kirk spoke from Hanoi, where he met with Vietnamese officials after taking part in a meeting of economic chiefs from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia.