Is the TPP Agreement Dead?

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland says that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) can’t go ahead without the United States.

“The TPP agreement as currently structured and finalized can only come into force if it is ratified by the United States,” Freeland told reporters in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s pronouncement he would pull out of the deal.

“It is a fact that the TPP agreement is so structured that this agreement can only come into force if six of the countries covering 85% of the GDP of the overall space ratified the agreement.” Freeland said.

Nonetheless, Freeland said that Canada’s position on the TPP remains the same.

“Our position on TPP is unchanged– we promised that we would consult Canadians and listen to them on TPP.”

Freeland did not make clear if the structure of the agreement could be mended to still function without the United States.

 

The combined gross-domestic product (GDP) of the 12 countries involved in the TPP agreement totals $28.5-trillion, which constitutes 40% of the world’s GDP.

The 12 countries involved in the TPP are Japan, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Australia, New-Zealand, the United States, and Canada. The TPP would eliminate tariffs on a lot of goods circulating between the countries involved.

Freeland declined to answer when asked what use there would be in pursuing a trade deal that the next U.S. President opposes.

The outcome of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will not be official until February 2018. This decision was taken to allow domestic politics to adjust to the agreement before it is ratified.

Freeland said Canada is very confident that the economic relationship between Canada and the United States is beneficial. “This is probably the strongest, most mutually effective economic relationship in the world maybe perhaps outside of the European Union,” Freeland said.