TPP Member States Yet To Iron Out Differences

Trade & Policy

TPP Member States Yet To Iron Out Differences

After the withdrawal of the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) earlier this year, the remaining 11 member countries though keen to go ahead with the trade agreement are yet to settle down on fine tuning aspects.

In the latest November meet of the 11 member countries hosted in Vietnam, Japan expressed the sentiment that the treaty should be signed without any delays. “In several of the member countries general elections are fast approaching and the countries may witness a movement in governments and before this happens we need to ratify the deal,” was the summary of the Japanese opinion in the TPP meet.

Though the Japanese government official did not mention the names of any country, election month is fast approaching in Malaysia and Mexico by mid-2018. From Japan’s point of view rather than allow the agreement to lapse into a limbo of political quagmire, a prompt decision in favor of the agreement to be enforced would stand to benefit all the 11 member countries.

The Canadian envoys however, had another side to it. They were of the opinion that instead of signing it in a hurry, the member countries should ensure that a quality agreement was in place. Besides, Canada contended that they wanted their cultural goods and services to be exempted. The other member country spokesmen expressed the sentiment that while Canada is pressing forth its cause, it should bring in clarity on what exactly it would mean to the rest.

While the momentum towards signing the treaty is gathering on the one hand, lack of clarity on how much flexibility should member states allow to be exercised is delaying the process. Close on heels to Japan expressing keenness, its trading partner Vietnam too has been very keen on ratifying the treaty.

The United States withdrawing from the TPP after President Donald Trump’s decision this January has made the situation all the more tricky for Vietnam. At present Vietnam is heavily relying on Chinese sourcing for carrying out its export trade. However, this is not expected to go down well with the rest of the 10 member states of the TPP.

Had the United States not withdrawn from the TPP, Vietnam would have had no problems in procuring raw materials and exporting most of its goods to US. The original 12-member state organization was constituted by the erstwhile US President Barack Obama to mainly counter-balance China’s weight in world trade. However, with the withdrawal of the US, the weight of the treaty has considerably shrunk.