Sydney: Australia has declared the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) not dead ahead of key trade talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Sydney today, despite opposition to the trade pact from US President-elect Donald Trump. The talks between Australian Prime Minister Turnbull and Abe also come amid heightened regional tension as China asserts its claims over the disputed South China Sea, setting up a potential clash with the incoming Trump administration.
“Talk of the TPP being dead is premature. We need to give the Americans time to work through this issue,” Australian Trade Minister Steven Ciobo (pictured) told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio yesterday. The 12-member TPP, which aims to cut trade barriers in some of Asia’s fastest-growing economies but does not include China, can not take effect without the United States. Ciobo said if the TPP was rejected, Australia would seek free trade agreements with individual Asian nations. “We will certainly continue to look for trade opportunities. Australia is a trading nation,” he said. Japan is the only signatory to have ratified the TPP, which has a two-year timetable for all members to sign into law.
