From an op-ed in the Santiago Times:
... the insistence on achieving so-called “deep integration,” primarily of interest to U.S. negotiators, is undermining negotiations and obscuring what should be the ultimate goal of the TPP process: easier movement of goods and services across the Pacific.
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... despite clear and at times unanimous objections, the U.S. has yet to revise its proposals in this and other controversial areas, nor has it indicated whether it would do so. Not surprisingly, there remains serious space between the parties as they enter 2013 with a self-imposed October deadline looming. The arguments over investment protection, intellectual property, and other deep integration issues, in addition to fouling the politics of the agreement, obscures the real opportunities to make the TPP valuable for member countries – especially for a country like Chile that already has free trade agreements in place with each of the TPP members. ...
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What was compelling about the original P-4 agreement was not the economic firepower of its members (which was, after all, quite negligible). Instead, it was the vision of establishing a framework for broader Asia-Pacific free trade that other countries could easily join. Likewise, the TPP must be able to bring on new members, especially in Asia, relatively easily in order to fulfill its aspiration to be a powerful mechanism for trans-Pacific economic integration. As the study cited above indicates, the bloc as currently constituted simply does not encompass enough of Asia’s dynamic economies to make the gains of participation for Chile worth the costs. The addition of Japan, which has expressed interest in the TPP, would certainly help, but a new government and upcoming legislative elections make Japanese participation unlikely for the time being.
By giving ground on deep integration issues, the U.S. would not only make TPP membership more enticing to other Asian economies, it would also give current members a fighting chance of concluding the agreement by the October 2013 target. ...
