Quick sign-off on TPP deal far from sure at Asia-Pacific meeting

Continuing disagreements over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal ditched by US President Donald Trump mean 11 remaining members may not be ready to give it a wholehearted go-ahead at a summit this week, officials said on Wednesday.

Clear agreement on proceeding without the United States would be a boost for the principle of multilateral free trade pacts over the bilateral deal-making that Trump argues will give a better result for American workers.

The TPP is also a counterweight to China’s growing regional dominance. Japan has been lobbying hard for agreement on the sidelines of this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.

However, officials from several member states said there was less appetite to move ahead quickly from some members - notably Canada, New Zealand and Malaysia.

The pact aims to eliminate tariffs on industrial and farm products across a bloc whose trade totaled $356 billion last year. It also has provisions for protecting everything from intellectual property to labor rights to the environment.

Chief negotiators from the TPP-11 countries met on Monday and Tuesday. Their ministers are due to meet on Wednesday and Thursday in the Vietnamese seaside resort of Danang.

“Our view is that we need to take the time to get the right deal,” said one Canadian official who declined to be identified.

Canada’s position is complicated by the fact that it is also renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with a Trump administration that pulled the United States out of the TPP agreement in one of its first acts.

New Zealand’s new government has voiced support for the TPP, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was too early to say a deal could be reached this week.