The chief negotiators from the 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries met in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on July 12 to discuss how to bring the regional free trade deal into effect following the withdrawal of the US.
The two-day meeting will discuss measure to progress TPP before the leaders of 11 countries will meet in November on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Vietnam.
Nobuteru Ishihara, Japan’s Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy said on Tuesday that Japan hopes to reach an agreement to bring the TPP into effect and to bring the US back.
According to current regulations, the TPP can come into force after the countries that account for 85% of the original 12 signatories' combined gross domestic product (GDP) complete their domestic procedures.
Since the US alone represents more than 60% of the initial members' GDP, it is impossible to bring the pact into effect under present terms.
VOV
