Thanks to Inside U.S. Trade for posting the full transcript of President Obama’s October 8 press conference about the government shutdown. During the press conference, New York Times reporter Mark Landler asked Obama if China benefited from his absence from the recent APEC and Trans Pacific Partnership meetings in Bali. Obama’s response brought up the way that the U.S. wants to raise norms on intellectual property through the Trans Pacific Partnership in order to eventually raise them in China:
“… On trade, in particular, though, here is an area where part of what we’re trying to do is raise standards for, for example, intellectual property protection, which sometimes is a big problem in China. And if we can get a trade deal with all the other countries in Asia that says you’ve got to protect people’s intellectual property that will help us in our negotiations with China.”
This will not come as a surprise to people who have been following the TPP. However, it is the first time I have seen the President say outright that the patent and copyright rules being negotiated in the TPP are meant to be extended to other countries.
