Trans-Pacific Trade Partners Are Moving On, Without the U.S.<br />In a statement posted online, the Australian government said<br />that the agreement in principle demonstrated the 11 countries’ “commitment to open markets, to combat protectionism and to advance regional economic integration.”<br />The 11 countries working toward the new agreement are Japan, Australia, Canada,<br />Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Chile, Peru, New Zealand and Brunei.<br />Completing a deal now, he said, “makes the possibility of the U. S. coming back more likely.”<br />The new agreement has been crafted with the hope that the United States will one day participate.<br />“The U. S. has been the driving force, not just behind the global economic order, but also pursuing higher standards on free trade and securing provisions<br />that go way above the World Trade Organization obligations,” said Stephen Olson, a former United States trade negotiator who worked on Nafta.<br />Pointedly, the potential members of what is now called the Comprehensive<br />and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership came to an early agreement on the broad outline of a deal while many of their leaders were meeting with Mr. Trump in Vietnam — itself a potential member of the new trading group.<br />A new deal, which would have to be signed and ratified by each country, would include major United States allies like Japan, Canada and Mexico.<br />“It will be difficult for the administration to backtrack,” said Wendy Cutler, a former United States trade negotiator who worked on the Trans-Pacific deal<br />and is now managing director of the Washington office of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
