What Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was a proposed free trade agreement among 12 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Pacific Rim economies🅰. The United Stateꦕs was initially included. Congress gave President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate the deal in 2015 and to put it to an up-or-down vote without amendments.

All 12 nations signed the agreement in February 2016. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in August 2016 that there would not be a vote on the deal before President Obama left office.

Major-party nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton opposed the deal, it was considered to be dead on arrival. Trump's 2016 presidential victory solidified that view and he signed a memo on Jan. 23, 2017 instructing the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:U.S. trade representative to withdraw the U.S. as a signatory to the deal and pursue bilateral negotiations instead. 

Understanding the Trans-Pacif𒁃ic Partnership (TPP)

The agreement would have lowered tariffs and other trade barriers among Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. The deal was viewed in the U.S. in the broader context of the Obama administration's military and diplomatic "pivot" toward East Asia which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlined in an article in Foreign Policy magazine in October 2011.

Clinton said in 2012 that the deal set the "gold standard in trade agreements." Her comment was likely in response to an unexpectedly fierce primary challenge from Senator Bernie Sanders but Clinton later said that she opposed the deal. Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign opponent, Donald Trump, also opposed the TPP and similar deals.

Debate Over the Trade Deal

Opposi💦tion to the TPP deal centered around a number of themes. The secrecy surrounding the negotiations was considered anti-democratic. Opponents also said that trade deals are believed to be the source of foreign competition that contributes to a loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Some in opposition were disturbed by the "investor-state dispute settlement" (ISDS) clause that would allow corporations to sue national governments that violate trade agreements.

Supporters of the deal contended that trade agreements open new markets for domestic industries. These proponents claimed that TPP and other trade deals create new jobs and contribute to economic growth. They further maintained that opposition to the deals had a basis in partisan politics.

Alternatives to the TPP

Other signatory countries that had negotiated for seven years to finalize the deal discussed alternatives following President Trump's order to pull the U.S. out of the TPP. One was to implement the deal without the U.S. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull reportedly discussed this option with the leaders of Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore after the U.S. withdrawal. The Japanese government told reporters that the country wouldn't continue to pursue the deal, however.

The United States was by far the largest economy to have participated in TPP negotiations and other countries likely considered the trade-offs that were involved as being unattractive without access to the U.S. market. The eleven remaining nations involved ultimately agreed to a somewhat revised deal which some nations have since ratified.

China also pushed for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partner🧸ship (RCEP), a multilateral Pacific Rim trade deal. It would link China to Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. Leaders from 15 Asia-Pacific nations signed the agreement on Nov. 15, 2020.

President Obama repeatedly emphasized the need to finalize the TPP while in office, arguing, "We can't let countries like China write the rules of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:global economy. We should write those rules."

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was signed on March 8, 2018 by Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam. The United Kingdom requested accession to the CPTPP on Feb. 1, 2021 and the CPTPP Commission agreed to commence accession negotiations with the UK on June 2, 2021.

The Bottom Line

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would have reduced tariffs and other trade barriers between 12 nations including the United States. These nations signed the agreement in February 2016 but the U.S. withdrew under order by President Trump in January 201𓄧7 when he took office in his first term. Presidential nominee Hilary Clinton also opposed the deal.