On March 8th, 2018, the eleven countries remaining in the Trans-Pacific Partnership met to sign a new trade agreement called The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP. This new trade agreement is similar to the TPP, but without U.S. involvement it has been altered. It now excludes over twenty provisions that were added to accommodate the U.S. The new version also removes the condition that required final members to account for at least 85% of the combined GDP of the original signers. The scope of the deal has also changed, the original TTP deal covered 800 million people and 40% of the world's economic output. The remaining members of the CPTPP represent 500 million people, and 13% of world trade. The remaining members of the deal are: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. It will be interested to see how this trade affects the U.S., as President Donald Trump signed an order on the 8th that imposes tariffs on steel and aluminum products to counter the free trade impulse represented in the CPTPP. This move has sparked fears of a trade war.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/08/591549744/the-tpp-is-dead-long-live-the-trans-pacific-trade-deal
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-tpp/asia-pacific-nations-sign-sweeping-trade-deal-without-u-s-idUSKCN1GK0JM
https://i2.wp.com/noticieros.televisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/mexico-tendra-acceso-a-seis-nuevos-mercados-con-el-tratado-transpacifico.jpg?fit=594%2C354&quality=100
Pretty amazing isn't it? Here is the full text of the agreement. Sometimes it's interesting AND important to look at the original material...so as to be better judges of all of the interpretations we read in the media. Primary sources can be good! http://international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/cptpp-ptpgp/text-texte/index.aspx?lang=eng
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