The Trans-Pacific Partnership and implications for Europe

Back when Japan announced that it was interested in joining the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations - which currently include the United States, current US FTA partners Australia, Chile, Peru, and Singapore, new FTA partners Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand and Vietnam - I noted that admitting the economic power and close US ally was a no-brainer.

An important article in the Latin American press peculiarly has not gotten the attention it deserves. Or perhaps not so peculiarly, given the Obama administration’s intention to keep the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations as far out of the public eye as possible. An overview of the TPP from a post earlier this month:

As expected, the US and Canadian governments announced today that Canada would join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.  (To get caught up, Peter Clark has some great backstory on the recent machinations.)  First up with the good news was Canadian PM Harper:

Claude Barfield, 1 August 2012Canada and Mexico have recently been invited to join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This column argues that this is a big deal. It could produce a domino effect, beginning with the addition of Japan and Korea and leading to a model 21st century trade area encompassing over 700 million people with a combined GDP of some $26 trillion.Full Article: Trans-Pacific Partnership enlarged: A trade agreement that may remake world trade governance

Last night, I lamented the last four years of politics-driven US trade policy stagnation and the United States' abdication of its traditional role as the world's global trade leader.  My longwinded essay was admittedly light on links and examples, but did happen to finger Canada as one of several countries that have left the United States in the trade liberalization/leadership dust over the last few years.

US President Barack Obama's push to create the world's largest free trade zone spanning the Pacific gained momentum on Sunday as Canada and Mexico followed Japan into accession talks.At a regional summit in his native Hawaii, Obama said harnessing the huge trade potential of the dynamic region was vital as he wooed countries from across the Pacific Rim into the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).