The United States, Japan, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

Strengthening Asia's Regional Economic Integration


The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), U.S.-Japan Research Institute, and US-Asia Institute held a briefing that was hosted by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific in Washington, D.C., on Friday, September 6 at 2255 Rayburn House Office Building.

The briefing featured remarks from Robert Manogue, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of State; Takashi Terada, a Professor of International Relations at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan; and Katsuichi Uchida, President of the U.S.-Japan Research Institute (USJI) and a Professor at Waseda University in Japan.

With the Asia-Pacific region driving global economic growth, the United States has emphasized increasing economic engagement with Asia as part of its “rebalancing” strategy. The Obama administration has said that the successful conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) talks is central to this U.S. strategy. However, several other ambitious multilateral trade negotiations have also been launched in Asia. These include the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which comprises all of ASEAN and its trade partners China, South Korea, and India (who are not in the TPP), as well as a trilateral negotiation between China, Japan, and South Korea.

This briefing assessed the dynamics of the ongoing trade negotiations in Asia and the implications for the U.S. rebalancing effort. It also examined how countries such as Japan are balancing multiple FTA negotiations, as well as the prospects for enhanced cooperation between the United States and Japan to ensure high standards for trade and investment frameworks in Asia.

Collaborating Organizations

Hosted by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific

Speaker Bios

Robert D. Manogue is Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of State, for the Office of Bilateral Trade Affairs, which is responsible for most bilateral trade issues for the Department, including free trade negotiations, regional trade preference programs (ATPA, AGOA, etc.), and bilateral economic dialogues. Before joining Bilateral Trade Affairs, Mr. Manogue served in the Economic Section in Embassy Bogota, where he worked on trade issues such as the free trade agreement between the U.S. and Colombia. He also served in the Economic Section of Embassy Lima, working on macroeconomic and money laundering issues.

From 1998 to 2005, Mr. Manogue was an action officer in the Economic and Energy Bureau working on trade issues related to Latin America. In that capacity, he participated in the negotiation of free trade agreements between the U.S. and Chile, Central America, Panama, Colombia and Peru. He also participated in the negotiation of the now dormant Free Trade Area of the Americas. Mr. Manogue has worked extensively with the U.S. Congress, helping to pass legislation that enhanced the unilateral trade preference programs CBI and ATPA. He also assisted in winning congressional approval of the Chile and Central American free trade agreements.

Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Manogue worked as an international economist at the Commerce Department. Before entering government service, he worked for Bankers Trust Company and the fashion company Perry Ellis, both in New York. Mr. Manogue holds a BA from St. Lawrence University and an MA from the University of Chicago.

Takashi Terada is a Professor of International Relations at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. He received his PhD from Australian National University in 1999. Before taking up his current position in April 2012, he was an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore (1999–2006) and an associate professor and later as a full professor at Waseda University (2006–2011). Dr. Terada also has served as a visiting professor at University of Warwick in the United Kingdom (2011 and 2012) and as a Japan scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. (2012). His areas of specialty include international political economy in Asia and the Pacific, theoretical and empirical studies of Asian regionalism, and domestic and international politics regarding FTAs. Dr. Terada’s articles have been published by major international academic journals, including The Pacific Review, Journal of Politics, Australian Journal of International Affairs, and Asia Pacific Economic Papers. His latest work is East Asia and the Asia-Pacific: Competing Regional Integrations (in Japanese, University of Tokyo Press, 2013). Dr. Terada has been regularly consulted on national and international affairs by the Japanese, Australian, and Singapore governments. He is the recipient of the 2005 J.G. Crawford Award.

Katsuichi Uchida is President of the U.S.-Japan Research Institute (USJI) and a Professor of School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University in Japan. His professional appointments include:

  • 2006: Vice-President for International Affairs, Waseda University
  • 2004-2006: Dean, School of International Liberal Studies, Waseda University
  • 2004: Professor of School of International Liberal Studies, Waseda University
  • 1984-2004: Professor of Faculty of Law, Waseda University
  • 1979-1984: Associate Professor of Faculty of Law, Waseda University
  • 1977-1979: Assistant Professor of Faculty of Law, Waseda University

Other experience:

  • Director for International Education Center and International Division, Waseda University
    [Research Field]
  • Japanese Civil Law, Landlord and Tenant Law, Housing and Urban Law, Civil jurisprudence, Social Law