The Trans-Pacific Partnership – Webinar Segment 1

Elliot J. Feldman conducted a webinar for The Knowledge Group on January 8, 2016 on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Set out below is the essential text of Dr. Feldman's presentation for segment 1 of that webinar, slightly modified to recognize that the webinar was in early January. Dr. Feldman's presentation for Segment 2 will be provided in a subsequent post on this blog.

Original planning for this webinar called for an earlier date for presentation. We proposed a date that would get us past at least some speculation. Before January, terms had not been finalized; countries had not yet signed. Canada was unhappy with the deal the United States apparently had entered with Japan over rules of origin for automobiles and automobile parts, and with a federal election looming on October 19, it seemed certain only that Canada would not conclude the deal before the election, whose outcome might change the Canadian disposition altogether. There were plenty of other outstanding