USTR Statement on the 18th Round of Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations

On July 25, 2013, following the completion of the 18th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP") negotiations in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, U.S. reported further strong progress on the goal, set by President Obama and the other TPP leaders, of concluding the free trade agreement this year. On July 23, the United States and the other TPP countries welcomed Japan as the 12th member of the negotiations. With Japan’s entry, TPP countries now account for nearly 40 percent of global GDP and about one-third of all world trade.

The 19th round of TPP negotiations will be held in Brunei from August 22-30. The member states are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam