President Danilo Medina has sent a letter to his US counterpart Barack Obama expressing concern about the negative impact the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could have on DR-CAFTA signatory countries. The TPP is a proposed trade agreement under negotiation with Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. Medina has expressed concern at the proposal to give the Pacific countries tax-free access to the US market.
A recent report issued by the US Congressional Research Service indicates: “Textiles are a contentious and unresolved issue in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to establish a free-trade zone across the Pacific. Because the negotiating parties include Vietnam, a major apparel producer that now mainly sources yarns and fabrics from China and other Asian nations, the agreement has the potential to shift global trading patterns for textiles and demand for US textile exports. Canada and Mexico, both significant regional textile markets for the United States, and Japan, a major manufacturer of high-end textiles and industrial fabrics, are also participants in the negotiations.”
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42772.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership