Trade deal in disarray

AUSSIES BID TO SAVE PARTNERSHIP AS TRUMP DITCHES PACT Shock US action could bring China to the table.

The Australian government said yesterday it was working to recast the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without the United States and opened the door for China to sign up after President Donald Trump ditched the huge trade pact.

The deal included a dozen Asia-Pacific nations which together account for 40% of the global economy. But Trump declared on Monday he had “terminated” it in line with election pledges to scrap the “job killer” pact.

Canberra is floating a “TPP 12 minus one”, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying his government was in discussions with other signatories, including Japan, New Zealand and Singapore, on how to salvage the agreement.

“It is possible that US policy could change over time on this, as it has done on other trade deals,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra, adding that the nominee for US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and Republicans supported the TPP.

The agreement, the biggest trade deal in history, was seen as a counter to China’s rising economic influence. It was signed last year but has not yet gone into effect.

Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said Australia, Canada, Mexico and others had canvassed for a pact without the United States at a World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Davos.

“There would be scope for China if we were able to reformulate it to be a TPP 12 minus one, for countries like Indonesia or China or, indeed, other countries to consider joining,” Ciobo told the Australian Broadcasting Corpo- ration. Trump said he would pursue bilateral deals to secure terms more favourable to the US.

But New Zealand PM Bill English said a US-New Zealand pact would be challenging given Trump’s insistence that Washington would dictate terms. – AFP