The pact aims to break down trade and investment barriers between these countries of 800 million people, which constitute 30 percent of global trade and about 40 percent of the world’s economy.
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As well as the USA and New Zealand, the countries who have signed the deal are Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Peru, Chile, Vietnam and Brunei.
However, US President Barack Obama said the agreement was a new type of trade deal “that puts American workers first”.
The agreement covers a region responsible for about one-third of all world trade, although noticeably missing from the agreement is China, which is forging ahead with its own trade deals.
Many believe that the trade deal is created to give the United States a competitive economic to counter the rising influence of China in the Pacific region, but TPP nations say China is welcome to sign up too. The TPP will drive the NZ-US economic relationship forwards, encouraging more trade, investment and innovation. What we need from Congress is a commitment to move beyond the shortsighted focus on November and see what this agreement means for our economy, both in rural communities and nationwide.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which drew heavy criticism in Malaysia and other participating countries in response to sensitive chapters, was signed Thursday in downtown Auckland.
President Obama supports the deal, which took five years to negotiate, saying it will support U.S.jobs. As participants in the ceremony cheered as the agreement was signed, hundreds of protesters outside blocked streets, voicing fears that TPP would lead to a loss of sovereignty and only benefit big corporations.
Those will come with ratification, as long as two years away, which opponents say they will use that time to try to stop the deal.
But the White House has said the agreement will cut 18,000 different taxes on USA exports and open the globe to more American-made products, plus it has the strongest labor and environmental protection ever included in a global trade deal.
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Key further adds that all the other countries that have showed an interest in joining the TPP and which lead to a even more bigger economic integration.
