TPP11 is go

Todd McClay writes:

Trade Minister Todd McClay has welcomed a joint statement from the TPP 11 countries saying it shows unity between the 11 and important next steps for the agreement.

“This outcome was better than we might have hoped for. It demonstrates a commitment from all 11 countries to implement the agreement which is extremely valuable for New Zealand and sets a clear path to a meeting of leaders in November of this year,” Mr McClay says.

“TPP is a high-quality set of rules for the Asia-Pacific which will increase market access for our exporters and benefits our wider economy.”

The statement was unanimously agreed to by the 11 countries at a meeting which New Zealand co-chaired with Vietnam on the sidelines of APEC in Hanoi.

This may be the diplomatic coup of the decade. I thought that TPP was dead as a door knob with the US pulling out of it. The US being in it, was why everyone else was in it. To have Japan and Canada say they still want to implement it without the US is amazing.