This week in Auckland, New Zealand, the 12 ministers representing Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. (TPP) signaling the official end of the deal’s negotiations. “After more than five years of negotiations, we are honored to be able to formalize our collective agreement of TPP which represents an historic achievement for the Asia-Pacific region,” the ministers said in a joint statement.
“TPP will set a new standard for trade and investment in one of the world’s fastest growing and most dynamic regions. We signatories comprise nearly 40 percent of global GDP, a market of more than 800 million people, and around one third of world trade. Our goal is to enhance shared prosperity, create jobs and promote sustainable economic development for all of our nations,” according to the joint statement.
“The signing of the agreement signals an important milestone and the beginning of the next phase for TPP. Our focus now turns to the completion of our respective domestic processes. We recognise the interest shown by a number of other economies throughout the region. This interest affirms our shared objective, through TPP, of creating a platform that promotes high-standards for broader economic integration in the future.” the ministers said.
Attention will now shift to gaining approval for the agreement in all member countries, but this may prove to be a difficult task in the United States, particularly this year. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, said he is working his way through the massive agreement.
“From what I can tell, it’s not really a free trade agreement,” the Minnesota Democrat said, likening it to more of “a managed trade agreement where they have increased access in certain commodities and in certain countries. They’re not really getting rid of the tariffs, they’re just eliminating them on a certain amount of product and so forth.”
“From what I’m hearing, if they brought up that agreement now in the House, it would fail,” Peterson said. “So I think they’ve rightly decided that they’re going to wait until after the election and see what happens at that point.”
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) is also skeptical of the TPP’s prospects, telling the nation’s ag commissioners and secretaries that TPP approval “ain’t going to happen this year.” “I just don’t see it happening in this session of Congress,” Roberts told reporters Wednesday. “Time is our most valuable commodity, and we don’t have a lot of time, so we better concentrate on what we have to do.”
At the signing in New Zealand, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he was “confident” that the leaders and members of Congress would “see the benefits” of the agreement and that TPP would have “the necessary bipartisan support” for final passage.
