TOKYO – Eleven countries, including Singapore, aiming to enter an ambitious Pacific Rim trade deal after the United States pulled out from an earlier version, have come to an agreement following two days of talks in Tokyo that ended on Tuesday (Jan 23).

The countries will now work towards inking the deal, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), by early March. 

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported March 8 as the date being mooted for the signing ceremony to be held in Chile.

Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) Lim Hng Kiang said in a statement on Tuesday: “Singapore is pleased by the good outcome on the CPTPP. We have made significant efforts to uphold the spirit and substance of the original agreement, while maintaining its high ambition and overall balance.

The deal, when entered into force, will substantially lower tariffs on a wide range of goods. Even without the US, it will be attractive for Singapore companies which will gain access to a market of 500 million people with a combined output of US$10 trillion (S$13.2 trillion).

Mr Lim noted that Singapore companies will stand to gain from the “substantial elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers for goods, improved access for service suppliers in a wide range of sectors, greater facilitation of investments, and improved access to government procurement contracts”.

Japan and Australia have been flagbearers of the deal since President Donald Trump pulled the US out of it, with prime ministers Shinzo Abe and Malcolm Turnbull agreeing in Tokyo last week to take the lead in urging countries to ink the deal by March.

The CPTPP supercedes the original TPP, with 20 provisions of the original document suspended, mostly on intellectual property. The other countries to the deal are Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Vietnam.

While the 11 nations reached a broad consensus on the deal on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, in November last year, questions arose after Canada – the second largest economy in the bloc after Japan – wavered.

Canada was the holdout, in seeking greater protection of its French-speaking cultural industries such as movies, television and music. It was also unhappy with the rules of origin for cars.

These outstanding issues were among those that were resolved following two days of talks among senior officials from the 11 countries in Tokyo. The officials finalised the list of suspended provisions, and completed the legal verification of the agreement, Singapore’s Ministry for Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a news statement.

The MTI added that the outcome “reaffirms the CPTPP countries’ collective commitment towards greater trade liberalisation and regional integration”.

“The CPTPP continues to be an important, high quality agreement, and is a good example of a plurilateral agreement from which countries each stand to benefit. In this spirit, the agreement will also be open for other willing and like-minded economies to join in future.”

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