Politics
14:58, 12-Jul-2017
Japan to host TPP trade pact talks without US
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Top negotiators from the 11 remaining Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) members gathered for a meeting in Japan on Wednesday to discuss the future of the trade pact after the withdrawal of the United States.
The meeting will run for at least two days in the hot-springs town of Hakone near Tokyo.
The leaders are also expected to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vietnam in November.
US President Donald Trump holds up an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, January 23, 2017. /VCG Photo
US President Donald Trump holds up an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, January 23, 2017. /VCG Photo
Under current rules, in order for the TPP pact to come into effect, at least six original signatories have to successfully ratify the agreement and those six signatories must represent 85 percent of the total GDP of the 12 original signatories.
As the United States, which represents nearly 62 percent of the total GDP, has drawn out of the pact, it becomes impossible for the pact to come into effect under current rules.
The TPP deal was originally signed in February last year by ministers from 12 countries including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam .
In January, US President Donald Trump announced the country would withdraw from the pact, saying it would hurt the interests of the US.
(With input from Xinhua)
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