11 nations sign Trans-Pacific trade pact as Trump imposes steel and aluminium tariffs

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Trade ministers from 11 Pacific Rim countries signed a sweeping free trade agreement Thursday to streamline trade and slash tariffs. Photo: AP

Published: 3:36am, 9 Mar 2018Updated: 12:05pm, 23 Mar 2018

Trade ministers from 11 Pacific Rim countries signed a sweeping free trade agreement Thursday to streamline trade and slash tariffs just hours before President Donald Trump announced his plans to impose new tariffs on aluminum and steel to protect US producers.

Trump withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership last year, causing fears that it would not prosper without its most influential country. But the remaining 11 members pressed ahead, saying they were showing resolve against protectionism through global trade.

The ministers dropped key provisions that the Americans had required on protection of intellectual property, among others. The renegotiated pact signed in Chile’s capital was also renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.

“Despite the diverse and difficult challenges, the CPTPP is a historic achievement that creates free and fair 21st century rules in the Asia-Pacific region,” Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said a news conference after the signing of the deal.

The pact that covers 500 million people includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, which together account for 13 per cent of the global economy. Its success highlights the isolation of the US under Trump’s protectionist rhetoric on trade and his “America first” philosophy.