TPP 2.0 will create pressures for more countries to join

THE revival of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which many observers had written off after the administration of US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement, is an act of economic statesmanship on the part of the 11 countries that are party to the agreement.

Version 2.0 of the TPP which was agreed among its members at the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic (Apec) forum in Danang, Vietnam on Nov 11 is a slightly watered-down version of the original agreement that included the United States and which was signed in February 2016. The new version, which has been renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), suspends 20 provisions, most of which the US had lobbied for, many of which relate to intellectual property protection while some are concerned with labour rights and environmental standards.

However, the ministerial statement indicated that the CPTPP "maintains the significant benefits of the TPP". As Japan's Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi pointed out: "The initial agreement spans 8,000 pages, and the fact that we were able to limit the suspension list to 20 means that we were able to keep the high standards set by the initial TPP agreement."