TPP signed, minus the U.S.

The purpose of the Trans-Pacific Partnership was originally conceived as a counterweight to China.  President Obama said, when supporting the pact, “America should call the shots,” not China. 

The proposed treaty had some of the same problems with labor and environmental protections as NAFTA, and Trump, Clinton, and Sanders all said they opposed it, although the lessons of NAFTA suggested that negotiations might improve matters.

The negotiations never took place.  One of Trump’s first acts as President was to pull the U.S. out of the TPP.  Today’s signing represents 11 Pacific rim countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, Vietnam, Chile, and Peru. 

The pact will open markets in countries that represent about a seventh of the world’s economy.  It will, for example allow New Zealand, Canadian, and Australian beef to be imported into Japan.  American beef will face a 38.5% tariff.

To read more about the signing, see Ernesto Londoño and Motoko Rich, “Allies Sign Sweeping Pacific Trade Accord in a Challenge to Trump,” New York Times, (Mar. 8, 2018), p. A10.