Negotiations began Monday in Melbourne, Australia, to iron out issues between the U.S. and seven other nations considering entering the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would be President Obama’s first major trade initiative since taking office.

Leading the U.S. delegation is U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who will be joined by his counterparts from the countries of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Chile, Brunei, Peru and Vietnam.

The proposed TPP would be by far the largest negotiated trade pact involving the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the free trade zone is expected to grow once implemented.  Kirk has publicly stated that he would eventually like to see Japan, Malaysia, Peru and South Korea enter the fold.  And AFP reports that some experts believe that Canada and Mexico – America’s partners in the failed NAFTA pact – could join as well.

The U.S. currently has bilateral trade agreements with Chile, Peru, Singapore and Australia as well as a negotiated but yet-to-be-ratified deal with South Korea.  Exports to the Asian-Pacific region amount to roughly $747 billion worth of goods each year.

This week’s round of negotiations are the first of four set to take place this year.  The talks are expected to center around a few issues: tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers, e-commerce, services and intellectual property. 

Many U.S. lawmakers, leaders of industry and organized labor leaders are concerned that the deal will turn out to be a much larger version of NAFTA, resulting in massive jobs loss, increased trade deficits, the outsourcing of countless American businesses and further economic instability for America’s middle class.

Last week in a meeting with Kirk, some Democratic House members emphasized that in order to win Congressional approval, the deal must shift the free trade paradigm to ensure strong environmental and labor standards, respect for democratic values and better protections from contaminated imports.
   
“We believe it is critical to approach these negotiations as an opportunity to redefine and redirect U.S. trade policy,” Michael Michaud (R-ME), Chairman of the House Trade Working Group, said in a statement.  “We must replace the failed policies of the past with those that deliver good paying jobs for American workers and a level playing field for our businesses.”

U.S. milk and beef producers are also particularly concerned about the prospects of trading freely with New Zealand, which has many dairy farming giants.  U.S. Dairy producers estimate that their industry could lose roughly $20 billion over a 10 year period due to increased competition from New Zealand farmers.

Organized labor is also weary of the proposed deal, given the fact that past free trade agreements have been detrimental to the American working class.  Accordingly, some have portrayed the TPP as simply an extension of the failed NAFTA model of free trade agreements that includes the Central American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization.

“All those trade deals have sacrificed American jobs — an historical fact that we hope this administration understands and will redress, starting with the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Teamster General President James Hoffa said in a statement.

While it appears that the trade pact has a sufficient amount of support in Asia, the Obama administration could still have plenty of heavy lifting at home if it wishes to pass the deal under the current Congress.
 
“If other countries are going to try to get their foot in the door for expanded trade here than these nations must respond by opening their markets to the United States,” Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) said in a statement.  “There must be fair and reasonable reciprocal access to all markets to bring our trade policy to a place where workers are not the primary losers.”

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