TPP Continues without United States

Leaders from Mexico, Canada, Japan and other nations officially signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership earlier this month at a ceremony in Santiago, Chile.

President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the pact in January 2017, arguing it was an unfair deal. At the time, leaders such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared TPP “meaningless.” But eventually, world leaders revived the agreement that encapsulates 14 percent of the global economy.

Countries remaining in the partnership are Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Mexico.

Analysts have speculated that countries such as Japan, Mexico and Canada may get entangled in a tit-for-tat trade war with the Trump administration, which imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel from all countries except Canada and Mexico. Despite their exemptions, Trump has hinted they may be subject to the tariffs if there isn’t major progress in the renegotiation of NAFTA, the three-nation trade pact.

So far, Mexico, Canada and the United States have made little progress after seven months of negotiations.

Source: CNN Money