The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) may not be dead, merely sleeping and losing some weight as it snoozes.
One of Donald Trump’s first acts after his inauguration in January was to make good on a campaign promise and take the United States out of the 12-nation TPP, which had been signed in October 2015.
Canada, under the government of prime minister Stephen Harper, was reluctant to join the TPP talks. It did so both as a defensive move and because it seemed to be the only practical way of making free trade agreements with targeted Asian partners, especially Japan.
The departure of the U.S. has left Canada and the other 10 TPP signatories wondering what to do next. Officials from what has become known as “TPP minus one” met in Toronto on May 2 and 3 to explore the possibility of keeping a slimmed-down version of the partnership alive.
Canada, however, has other options if it transpires that the TPP cannot be revived. Writing late in April, Hugh Stephens, a fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, executive-in-residence at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and vice-chairman of the Canadian Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, said there are several alternatives.
Canada should push to reopen bilateral talks with Japan, which were suspended because of Tokyo’s focus on TPP, Stephens wrote. He noted that Ottawa is exploring the possibilities of an economic partnership agreement with China, and should simultaneously be pressing for a free trade agreement with the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
An agreement with ASEAN could put Canada in line for membership in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement being negotiated among 16 Asia-Pacific countries.
