The agreement reduces more than 18,000 tariffs. [87] Tariffs on all U.S.-made products and almost all U.S. agricultural products would be completely eliminated, with most eliminations occurring immediately. [88] According to the Congressional Research Service, the TPP is “the largest U.S. free trade agreement in terms of trade flows ($905 billion in the United States). Exports of goods and services and $980 billion in imports in 2014).” [21] Including the United States, the signatories account for about 40% of global GDP and one-third of world trade. [89] Morin and Baumier, canada Research Chair in International Political Economy (writing for the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development) argue that while the TPP contains an impressive number of environmental regulations and a wide range of areas of environmental protection, very few of these standards are innovative, most of which were copied from earlier U.S. treaties. and that the TPP has missed an opportunity to be an original and progressive contribution to the environmental agenda. However, the TPP is innovative in using a combination of U.S.
and European approaches to environmental protection. In fact, this has made the TPP much more detailed and specific than ordinary U.S. agreements, while making it more legally enforceable than The Europe Agreements. [91] Joining the Asia-Pacific Trade Pact is a priority for China`s leaders. “China`s application for CPTPP membership is not a spontaneous decision, but it has been prepared for a long time,” Gao and Zhou said. Since 2013, China has been carefully studying the CPTPP, including its predecessor, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Last November, President Xi officially confirmed China`s intention to join the pact. In the long term, China`s accession could further consolidate the asia-Pacific region`s role as the world`s largest economic bloc, with the CPTPP and RCEP [Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement] playing complementary roles in further boosting growth in the region.â In November 2020, China and fourteen Asia-Pacific countries signed a trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
[179] Both the extension of the concept of copyright and the non-appeal provision (i.e. the competent authorities may take legal action without the need to file a formal complaint) could not be previously adopted in Japan due to their controversy. [113] In early 2015, “a group of artists, archivists, academics, and activists … in Japan, their negotiators [asked] to oppose TPP requirements that would require their country and five of the other 11 countries negotiating this secret agreement to expand their copyright terms to reflect the already excessive length of U.S. copyright law. [113] However, the final agreement establishes a copyright period equal to that applicable under U.S. law – the author`s lifetime plus 70 years. While one critic believes that the TPP offers a mix of advantages and disadvantages for the SDGs[94], another considers the TPP to be incompatible with the SDGs, pointing out that if the development provisions collide with another aspect of the TPP, the other aspect prevails. [95] Friends of the Earth has spoken out against the TPP. [96] [97] In May 2015, U.S. Congressman Sander Levin argued that it was difficult to enforce trade agreements when he questioned Vietnam`s willingness to comply with TPP labor standards.
[150] A report by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren stated that there was a significant gap between the labor standards of previous U.S. free trade agreements and the actual application of those provisions. [150] However, PIIE analysts point out that research shows that the presence of “whips” (a possible suspension of trade benefits) and “carrots” (technical assistance) in trade agreements increases the likelihood that work commitments in trade agreements will have a positive impact. Both the stick and the carrot are present in the TPP. [151] The TPP introduces an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)[128] mechanism that gives investors the right to sue foreign governments for violations. For example, if an investor invests in country “A”, a member of a trade agreement, and country A violates that contract, the investor can sue the government of country A for the breach. [129] ISDS aims to provide foreign investors with basic protection against foreign government measures such as “non-discrimination,” “protection against uncompensated expropriation of property,” “protection against denial of rights,” and “right to transfer capital”:[130][131] If China succeeds in acceding to the CPTPP, this will prevent the return of the United States to the agreement. That the U.S. will then have to negotiate with China to join the CPTPP is an irony that would be too much to bear. Indeed, the resumption of U.S.
engagement in trade in the Indo-Pacific region will force the U.S. to restart the process. After Trump`s withdrawal from the CPTPP, however, it will be a big boost to get other governments to agree to resume high trade commitments with the United States. Given that China is a party to the CPTPP, the economic impact on China of a new US-led trade deal that excludes China would be significantly reduced. In fact, for the foreseeable future, China`s accession to the CPTPP will undermine the effectiveness of U.S. trade policy as a tool to achieve U.S. strategic objectives with respect to China. .