Trans-Pacific Partnership clears key hurdle
The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations reached a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest regional trade accord in history, the New York Times reported Monday morning.
The agreement is a product of nearly eight years of negotiations, but it still faces months of debate in Congress. If implemented, it would phase out thousands of import tariffs and other barriers to international trade, establish uniform rules on corporations’ intellectual property, open the Internet and crack down on wildlife trafficking and environmental abuses, the Times reported.
The agreement would tie together 40% of the world’s economy, but its potential impact in Maine is uncertain. The deal could open up new markets to Maine exporters, but New Balance, the Boston-based footwear company with three Maine factories, has previously expressed concern that eliminating footwear tariffs on shoes made in Vietnam could risk more than 850 manufacturing jobs in Maine and another 500 jobs at two factories in Massachusetts.
The full 30-chapter text of the agreement will not be available for perhaps a month, according to the Times.
The 12 counties in the agreement are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States.
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