US Obama admin suspends TPP vote efforts

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)-the corporate-friendly trade deal between the USA and 11 Pacific Rim nations that sparked progressive outcry over its threats to everything from democracy to digital rights to climate goals -now appears to be “in full-blown cardiac arrest”.

The US Congress will abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal after Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Obama administration concedes.

Obama’s cabinet secretaries and the US Trade Representative’s office had been lobbying lawmakers for months to pass the 12-country TPP deal in the post- election, lame-duck session of congress.

The deal, created to regulate trade between Australia, the U.S., New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Brunei and Chile, was once hailed as the most progressive trade deal in history.

The TPP deal was reached in the United States of America city of Atlanta more than a year ago following years of bitter negotiation.

Other members including Australia were waiting for a decision from the United States because the rules require ratification by members accounting for 85 per cent of the the agreement’s gross domestic product, meaning it can’t come into force without the United States as the other members combined have only 43 per cent.

Some lawmakers and officials say the TPP or a similar deal could reappear in the Pacific in the future, perhaps with different countries in the region or even a single partner.

There are also concerns over Trump’s promise to tear up NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico) and his threat to declare China a currency manipulator because of its past efforts to push down the value of its currency.

The deal looked set to sail through legislatures when it was concluded a year ago, but the run-up to the USA presidential election put ratification on ice in Washington and prompted other countries to put their legislative approvals on hold too.

One of the world’s most ambitious proposed free trade deals appears to have collapsed in the wake of Donald Trump’s electoral victory.

“I think the TPP is dead, and there will be blood all over the floor if somebody tries to move that through the Congress anytime soon”, Trump confidante Sen.

The TPP’s collapse also dents American prestige in the region at a time when China is flexing its economic and military muscle.

Proponents saw the TPP as a multifaceted agreement knitting the USA into the world’s fastest-growing economies while setting USA standards for trade, labor and the environment.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is now in New Zealand, but with the presidential election still so fresh and priorities likely to change under Mr Trump’s leadership, he was unlikely to make any sweeping offers. China and Mexico are said to account for over half of the USA trade deficit.

“We will be ready to resume negotiations when the new USA administration feels that they are ready, but the ball is in their court”, she said.