Mark Nantais, President, CVMA
Chief negotiators from the 12 participating countries recently completed the latest round of talks in Hanoi, Vietnam.
As part of the development of 21st century free trade agreements, the CVMA says that it supports and highlights the following three key principles to a successful TPP:
Firstly, the CVMA said that it supports well-structured free trade agreements with countries that demonstrate reciprocal and commercially meaningful market access. As such, auto tariffs for imports must be phased out with sufficient transition time.
Secondly, the CVMA said that the TPP agreement must address existing auto non-tariff barriers and include appropriate mechanisms in the agreement to deter future non-tariff barriers.
Thirdly, the CVMA said that currency measures are integral to a successful TPP agreement. Currency disciplines are designed to ensure that market access provisions in the final agreement are not undermined by the inclination of one or more participating countries to manipulate their own currency. Currency manipulation is seen as extremely damaging, since it can be used to unwind commitments made by the parties to the agreement resulting in significant economic consequences for one or more parties to the agreement.
“The CVMA and its members believe the inclusion of currency disciplines in modern trade agreements can be done in an effective, fair and achievable manner. As such, we strongly encourage TPP negotiators to include these important principles as part of the TPP agreement,” said CVMA President Mark Nantais.
