TPP brings 500m people into Pacific trade deal
Despite US withdrawal, Pacific rim countries forged ahead with trade agreement
The 11 remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will sign a new pact later today in Chile’s capital, Santiago.
The TPP had seemed dead in the water after Donald Trump took the US out of the deal early last year. But after overcoming differences, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and New Zealand finalised the details of the agreement in Tokyo on Tuesday, paving the way for the official signing today.
Japan’s TPP minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, described the deal as “a landmark for the future of our country and the Asia-Pacific region”, the Japan Times reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The original TPP would have represented roughly 40% of the world’s economic output. Without the US, the new pact, renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), will cover just 13% of global GDP, but still include around 500 million people.
It could be good news for the UK: earlier this year, says The Guardian, Britain floated membership of the TPP as a way to boost post-Brexit trade.
The deal has proved hugely controversial over the course of its long gestation period. The original pact aimed to deepen economic ties between Pacific rim nations, slashing tariffs and fostering trade to boost growth, and forging a closer relationship on economic policies and regulation.
But, for its US critics, the TPP was “a secretive deal that favoured big business and other countries at the expense of American jobs and national sovereignty”, says the BBC. Those on the left claimed it would cost US jobs and “pave the way for companies to sue governments that change policy on, say, health and education to favour state-provided services”, says the broadcaster.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Despite these reservations, former US president Barack Obama made the deal a priority of his second term, in part to boost US economic growth, but also to serve as a counterweight to China’s growing influence in the Pacific.
-
Plastic whistles emerge as Chicago’s tool to fight ICEIN THE SPOTLIGHT As federal agents continue raiding the city, communities have turned to noisemakers to create a warning system
-
Roofman: a ‘stranger than fiction’ taleThe Week Recommends Channing Tatum walks ‘effortlessly’ between comedy and tragedy
-
Political cartoons for October 23Cartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include Mike Johnson's pumpkin patch, great news for crypto scammers, and a suspicious white sheet
-
The UK-made Storm Shadow missiles Ukraine is using in RussiaThe Explainer Ukraine reportedly deployed the long-range British missiles this week, following a tense meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump
-
Proposed Trump-Putin talks in Budapest on holdSpeed Read Trump apparently has no concrete plans to meet with Putin for Ukraine peace talks
-
What is Donald Trump planning in Latin America?Today’s Big Question US ramps up feud with Colombia over drug trade, while deploying military in the Caribbean to attack ships and increase tensions with Venezuela
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
Remaking the military: Pete Hegseth’s war on diversity and ‘fat generals’Talking Point The US Secretary of War addressed military members on ‘warrior ethos’
-
How does the Nobel Peace Prize work?The Explainer Activist María Corina Machado wins prestigious prize, despite public campaign by Donald Trump
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace planSpeed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange