Japan PM says TPP trade pact meaningless without US

[BUENOS AIRES] The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would be meaningless without US participation, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday as US President-elect Donald Trump said he would withdraw the United States from the Pan-Pacific free trade deal.

Mr Abe, who attended a gathering of TPP leaders in Lima on Saturday, said there was no discussion at the meeting that other members should try to put the TPP into effect without the United States, Mr Abe told reporters in Buenos Aires.

"The TPP would be meaningless without the United States," Mr Abe said.

Mr Trump released a video on Monday laying out actions he would take on his first day in office on Jan 20, including withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Mr Trump campaigned for the US presidency on a promise to pull out of the 12-nation trade deal, calling it a job-killing "disaster".

REUTERS