One
year after Donald Trump seemingly killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership by
pulling the U.S. out of the deal, the remaining 11 countries have settled on
terms and have set a date to sign the agreement.The pact, now known as the
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP),
is set to be signed on March 8 by the remaining countries—Australia,
Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore
and Vietnam.
If that does happen, it will be the final chapter in TPP’s long history, which
began as a way to curb China’s influence in Asia. The agreement stalled
last year when the U.S.
dropped out, and since then other nations like the UK have considered joining, whileVietnam hesitated and Canada threatened to walk. The final
negotiations centered around Canada’s concerns about its cultural
industries like movies and music, certain IP provisions and language related to
the auto industry. Resolution came when the intellectual property provisions
were dropped and the other concerns were ironed out via side pacts between
Canada, Malaysia, Australia and Japan.
While his most recent move to slap tariffs on imported washing machines and
solar panels seems to indicated that Trump is sticking to his America First
stance, some in the international community still hold out hope that the U.S.
will have another change of heart with regards to TPP.“Asia-Pacific is the part of the world where most of the global growth will be
generated for years to come and the U.S. as a great trading economy surely will
want to have the same advantageous access to those markets as we will have,”
said Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann during the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland.The Wall Street Journal also reports that
Toshimitsu Motegi, the Japanese minister handling the talks, has similar
sentiments.
Source: CNBC Africa, U.S.A Saturday, 27 January 2018