The U.S. next month will join negotiations about an investment treaty between the “P-4″ treaty partners of New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei.

The United States will join trade negotiations on financial services and investment with four countries in the Asia-Pacific region that have linked their economies through a free trade pact, according to an announcement from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office on Monday.

The negotiations on financial services and investment will build on an existing agreement between the four countries Singapore, Chile, New Zealand and Brunei, together known as the “P-4.” The talks will begin next month.

The so-called “P-4″ group of countries signed its own Free Trade Agreement (FTA), officially known as the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership, in 2005. That FTA, based on the U.S. FTAs with Singapore and Chile, took effect in 2006. The investment and financial services chapters, however, remain to be negotiated.

Next month, the P4 members are expected to begin negotiating a new chapter to the FTA that covers investment and financial services. The U.S. will participate in those negotiations.

The U.S. already has free trade deals with Singapore and Chile, but the new initiative could lead to similar pacts with New Zealand and Brunei.

“We see these investment and financial services negotiations as an opportunity to further our engagement with countries committed to high-standard trade agreements,” said U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab. “This initiative also will provide another opportunity for the U.S. to participate in the regional trade architecture that is emerging in the vitally important Asia-Pacific region.”

Today the Asia-Pacific region is a key driver of global economic growth, representing nearly 60 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and roughly 50 percent of international trade. The average GDP growth rate in the rapidly growing and dynamic countries in this region was 5.1 percent in 2006, compared with the world average of 3.9 percent. Since 1990, total goods trade by the Asia-Pacific economies has increased by 300 percent, while global investment in the region has increased by over 400 percent.

“These negotiations are a great opportunity for the United States to extend the highest-quality investment and financial services language — including robust investor-state provisions — to strong trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region,” Frank Vargo, the National Association of Manufacturers’ VP of International Economic Policy, said in a statement.

However, as it begins investment and financial services negotiations with the P-4 countries, the U.S. will also begin a detailed exploratory process to determine whether it should participate in the full Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership. For it to happen, the current Bush administration needs to get political support to move beyond talks on bilateral investment rules and removing trade barriers in banking, insurance and other financial services. The administration will consult with members of Congress and other interested parties before deciding whether to join the P-4 pact fully.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has applauded this week’s announcement, hopes other countries with which the U.S. has existing FTAs — such as Australia, Mexico and Peru — will enter into the P-4 agreement upon completion of the negotiations.

The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership includes an accession clause that allows other nations to join the agreement. Previously, it was dubbed the P-3, as negotiations originally included only New Zealand, Chile and Singapore; Brunei was subsequently incorporated into the agreement.

In the longer term, Reuters reports:

The P-4 talks could be a stepping stone to a free trade pact covering the 21 member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. However, that is probably an issue for the next U.S. president who will take office in January 2009.

“Entering existing negotiations with the P-4 Group on investment and financial services is a great opportunity for the United States to increase our engagement with New Zealand and Brunei, as well as the entire region” Vargo said in the statement from NAM. “The United States has already signed trade agreements with Singapore and Chile which contain robust investment and financial services chapters. Essentially, we are expecting this foundation to be applied to Brunei and New Zealand.”

The U.S. is already pursuing further regional economic integration in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) through intensive exploration of the prospect of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), as well as through bilateral FTAs such as a pending agreement with South Korea.