Australia says ‘minor tweaking’ can salvage TPP without the US

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(Asia Today Thursday 9 February 2017)

Australia says ‘minor tweaking’ can salvage TPP without the US

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Published: 4:00 AM, February 9, 2017

CANBERRA — Australia will push the case for a Pacific trade deal without the United States at a meeting with other potential members in Chile next month, Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) remains “absolutely” relevant without the US, and the text of the accord would only need minor tweaking to allow for America’s withdrawal, Mr Ciobo said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday.

“There were a lot of hard-fought gains that were achieved over intense negotiations over many years in relation to the TPP,” Mr Ciobo said. “I don’t want, and I know a number of other countries don’t want, those gains to slip through our fingers.”

Echoing his comments, New Zealand’s Trade Minister Mr Todd McClay said separately it was “too soon” to give up on the 12-nation pact, adding that the 11 remaining member countries need to discuss what the next step should be after the US pulled out.

“By the time we come together next month, those options will become a little bit clearer,” Mr McClay told Kyodo News. “We should take the time to make sure we make the right decisions and the right choices rather than rushing to say TPP is finished or should go ahead.”

The TPP was thrown into disarray after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord in one of his administration’s first acts.

While Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has discussed the deal with Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and held talks with the leaders of New Zealand and Singapore, some parties have signalled their reluctance to try and proceed without the largest economy.

The TPP also stipulates that to take effect it needs to be ratified by at least six states, which together account for 85 per cent of the combined gross domestic product of all 12 original signatories.

Under that requirement, it legally does not work without US involvement. “There would need to be some minor tweaking” to the text for the accord to proceed without the US, Mr Ciobo said when asked about the 85 per cent rule.

“If we can get in-principle agreement that we want to take this TPP agreement forward without the US, well, that’s a relatively straightforward process,” he said. “We could make some minor changes to the text to allow for the exclusion of the US.”

Mr Ciobo said he has held talks about proceeding on a “TPP minus one” with countries including Japan, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand.

Some countries have indicated they will now seek to negotiate directly with the US on trade. Australia already has a bilateral pact with America, as do countries such as South Korea and Singapore.

The difficulties facing the TPP have opened the way for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a separate 16-nation deal that includes China and India. The next round of talks on that pact is scheduled for late this month in Japan. AGENCIES