Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Moves Forward Sans the United States

The Story:

TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) nations will proceed without the United States, according to officials on Saturday. The decision comes on the heels of Canada resisting at the last minute, which raised new concerns about the pact’s survival.

Why It Matters:

With the decision to go ahead, the idea of multilateral trade agreements gets a shot of renewed confidence, especially since the U.S. decided to abandon it.

  • Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s failure to attend a Friday meeting, which led to the meeting being cancelled, cast a shadow over the TPP moving forward. The non-attendance was later attributed to “a misunderstanding about the schedule.”

  • The United States’ North American neighbor has been in a quandary over the pact, saying that it wants any sort of agreement to protect its citizens’ jobs.

  • The issue was further complicated by ongoing renegotiations with the U.S. on the NAFTA.

The Nuts and Bolts:

U.S. President Donald Trump discarded the idea of joining the TPP as it was dissonant with his “America First” policy, which purportedly focuses on protecting American jobs.

About 20 TPP provisions related to intellectual property, labor rights and the environment were shelved after the U.S. withdrew.

The TPP is still in its finalization stage, and its name will be changed to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Quite a mouthful!

Japan has been vocally favoring the pact, and is now the biggest economy in the group after Trump’s Prexit – presidential exit – from the agreement.

The Japanese interest partly comes from China’s growing dominance in the Asian market.

The 11-nation bloc will see the agreement eliminate farm and industrial product tariffs. Total trade volume between the current members during 2016 was $356 billion.

 

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