Countries agree on Pacific trade pact that excludes U.S.

Move comes after President Donald Trump sharply criticized large multilateral trade deals during his APEC speech in Vietnam.

DA NANG, Vietnam — Top trade officials from the 11 remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership have agreed on a bare-bones plan to bring the pact into force without the United States, according to a joint statement provided to POLITICO by the Chilean government.

The move came one day after President Donald Trump sharply criticized large multilateral trade deals during his keynote speech at the annual APEC leaders summit here.


"Ministers are pleased to announce that they have agreed on the core elements of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)," the statement said.

About 20 provisions that were once part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership have been "suspended." Notably, no agricultural commitment appears on the list.

Other provisions that won't go into effect include certain commitments related to express delivery, biologics, investment, telecommunications and medical devices.

In addition, "This text also incorporates a list of four specific items for which substantial progress was made but consensus must be achieved prior to signing," the statement added.

The four issues that still need to be resolved before the CPTPP can be signed each involve a different country: an issue on state-owned enterprises related to Malaysia; a commitment on coal affecting Brunei; a dispute settlement provision involving trade sanctions connected with Vietnam; and a cultural exception issue related to Canada.



During a press conference on Saturday morning in Vietnam, Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s minister for economy, trade and industry, and Tran Tuan Anh, Vietnam’s minister of industry and trade, took questions on the deal, even though details on its terms remain scarce.

Motegi, however, confirmed previous reports that Canada was the reason that the deal was held up after an agreement was thought to have been reached on Friday.

“As for the reason why Canada changed their attitude, I’m not certain, that’s something you’d have to ask Canada,” he said. “But I can state the fact that in the meeting the minister had raised his hand to show support for the agreement. Perhaps there are some domestic procedures in Canada and there was some mistake in communication.”

As late as Friday afternoon, Canadian officials said they would "not be rushed into an agreement that is not in the interest of Canada."


Anh, meanwhile, stressed the importance of maintaining a high-standard deal even without U.S. involvement. “That is why the quality of the agreement has been reaffirmed in two new words: comprehensive and progressive. We consider this an overarching goal of TPP.”

He added that more negotiations would be needed before the new CPTPP would become a reality. “I don’t think we can discuss everything here, but we have fulfilled our mission to reach a consensus between the TPP ministers concerning the most fundamental portion of TPP, and for the remaining part, we have a roadmap, a direction for it,” Anh said.

The countries also have to work out various technicalities and prepare the text, in English and other languages, for verification before it can be signed.

The 11 countries agreeing to the new CPTPP pact are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.