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WELLINGTON (Reuters) – A landmark 11-nation deal to cut tariffs in much of the Asia-Pacific region will come into effect at the end of December, New Zealand said on Wednesday. world trade in the United States the trade war intensifies.
PHOTO FEATURE: New Zealand's Minister of Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, Signs Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Sale Agreement in Santiago, Chile, March 8, 2018. REUTERS / Ivan Alvarado
The agreement progressed after Australia became the sixth nation to formally ratify the agreement, alongside Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore.
"This triggers the 60-day countdown to the entry into force of the Agreement and the first round of tariff cuts," said New Zealand's Minister for Trade and Export Growth (David Parker). His country is responsible for official tasks such as the receipt and dissemination of notifications made by members of the Pact.
The original 12-member agreement was put on hold at the beginning of last year when US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal to prioritize job protection in the United States.
The remaining countries, led by Japan, finalized a revised trade pact in January called the Global and Progressive Partnership for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPPP).
The agreement will reduce tariffs in economies representing together more than 13% of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), a total of $ 10 trillion. In the United States, that would have been 40%.
"As protectionist measures grow stronger around the world, the importance of free and fair rules is steadily growing," said Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi at a news conference. press conference in Tokyo.
He added that Japan would remain "a standard-bearer of free trade".
Representatives from Japan and other member countries praised the success of this agreement as an antidote to the growing protectionism of the United States. They hope that Washington will end up engaging in the pact again.
Trump's economic agenda, however, remains focused on China, a trade war pitting the world's two largest economies to show little sign of slowing.
Trump announced on Tuesday that he was ready to impose additional tariffs on Chinese products if an agreement with Beijing could not be reached.
The United States has already imposed tariffs on Chinese goods worth $ 250 billion, and China has responded by imposing retaliatory rights on US goods worth $ 110 billion.
The trade war threatens to curb global economic growth, although CPPP signatories have said the deal would be a boon to many sectors.
Australia said the agreement would boost agricultural exports, valued at more than A $ 52 billion ($ 36.91 billion) this year, despite a disabling drought .
The five member countries that still have to ratify the agreement are Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru and Vietnam.
While most parties to the agreement have pledged to ratify the deal, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he is still evaluating the benefits.
Peruvian Deputy Minister of Commerce, Edgar Vasquez, told Reuters that he expects Lima to ratify the deal by 2019.
"Peru is one of the countries that will benefit the most," said Vasquez.
Reportage of Charlotte Greenfield and Praveen Menon in WELLINGTON,; Other reports by Colin Packham in Sydney, Yoshifumi Takemoto in Tokyo, Mitra Taj in Lima and Joseph Sipalan in Kuala Lumpur; Edited by William Maclean, Shri Navaratnam and Kim Coghill
