11 Asia-Pacific states to sign revamped TPP trade deal without United States
Slimmed-down deal known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will be finalised as Donald Trump introduces tariffs on imported steel and aluminium
Eleven Asia-Pacific nations on Thursday are to sign a slimmed-down trade pact to lower tariffs just as US President Donald Trump seeks to raise them after withdrawing from the deal last year.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would have represented 40 per cent of the global economy and nearly one-quarter of its trade, was left for dead after Trump pulled out to pursue his “America First” agenda before the TPP could take effect.
But the revamped deal, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), is still a significant achievement that sends a message of openness, its supporters said ahead of the signing ceremony in Santiago, Chile.
The pact will include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, representing together 13.5 per cent of global gross domestic product.
The 11 states form a market of 500 million people, greater than that of the European Union’s single market.
“While taxes are going to be applied to certain products and there is a threat of a trade war, we are going to give a signal of openness,” said Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz.