Remaining TPP members should resurrect ambitious pact

THE Trans-Pacific Partnership among 12 nations (TPP12) was thrown into disarray after President Donald Trump pulled the United States, the largest economy in the grouping, out of what was to be a landmark trade deal. A number of remaining TPP members including Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Singapore are making the case for a trade pact without the US, dubbed TPP11 or "TPP12 minus one".

The advocates of TPP11 are proposing to keep the deal alive not only because it would be tragic to abandon a historic agreement produced after almost a decade of intense multi-country negotiations. But it is also because the TPP was a modern, comprehensive and high-standard trade deal that could bring substantial economic benefits to participating countries even without the US.

The gainers