Chile’s TPP Meeting
The remaining 11 members of the TransPacific Partnership are aiming to reach agreement on whether to move ahead with the trade pact without the United States when they meet next week in Chile, Vietnam Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh said yesterday (WTD, 37/17).
Trade officials from the remaining TPP countries plan to hold a two-day meeting in Chile March 14 and 15 to discuss the future of the trade agreement now that President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the deal.
The outcome of those discussions is not clear, Mr. Pham told a program sponsored by the Asia Society’s Policy Institute. But Vietnam believes it would be a mistake to allow the TPP to die – regardless of whether it continues as a regional agreement or becomes a template that is used in future free trade agreements in other parts of the world.
If the decision is to forge ahead with TPP, the next question will be whether to take on new members, the ambassador stated.
South Korea is planning to attend the meeting in Chile although it is not a TPP member. Seoul had intended to join TPP once it was implemented and ready to accept more members, South Korean Ambassador Ahn Ho-Young told the gathering. That was South Korea’s “Plan A.” Now Seoul is looking for its “Plan B” – Korea joining TPP if the remaining members decide to move ahead. He endorsed the recommendations of a new Asia Society report that the 11 TPP members should implement the agreement without the United States and open it to more countries.
President Trump has said he wants to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with TPP countries that are not already US FTA partners. But Hanoi so far has not received any such overtures from Washington, Mr. Pham remarked. But Vietnam would be open to any proposals from the United States that move in that direction, he added.
Australian Ambassador Joe Hockey decried the rise of anti-trade sentiment and the US move away from its long-time leadership on global trade. It is good to remember, he said, that its openness to trade helped “make America great in the first place.”
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The remaining 11 members of the TransPacific Partnership are aiming to reach agreement on whether to move ahead with the trade pact without the United States when they meet next week in Chile, Vietnam Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh said yesterday (WTD, 37/17).
Trade officials from the remaining TPP countries plan to hold a two-day meeting in Chile March 14 and 15 to discuss the future of the trade agreement now that President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the deal.
The outcome of those discussions is not clear, Mr. Pham told a program sponsored by the Asia Society’s Policy Institute. But Vietnam believes it would be a mistake to allow the TPP to die – regardless of whether it continues as a regional agreement or becomes a template that is used in future free trade agreements in other parts of the world.
If the decision is to forge ahead with TPP, the next question will be whether to take on new members, the ambassador stated.
South Korea is planning to attend the meeting in Chile although it is not a TPP member. Seoul had intended to join TPP once it was implemented and ready to accept more members, South Korean Ambassador Ahn Ho-Young told the gathering. That was South Korea’s “Plan A.” Now Seoul is looking for its “Plan B” – Korea joining TPP if the remaining members decide to move ahead. He endorsed the recommendations of a new Asia Society report that the 11 TPP members should implement the agreement without the United States and open it to more countries.
President Trump has said he wants to negotiate bilateral trade agreements with TPP countries that are not already US FTA partners. But Hanoi so far has not received any such overtures from Washington, Mr. Pham remarked. But Vietnam would be open to any proposals from the United States that move in that direction, he added.
Australian Ambassador Joe Hockey decried the rise of anti-trade sentiment and the US move away from its long-time leadership on global trade. It is good to remember, he said, that its openness to trade helped “make America great in the first place.”
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