Historic Pacific Rim trade accord puts pressure on EU for US deal

The United States, Japan and ten other Pacific Rim nations have agreed to the largest regional trade accord in history in a move that will place new pressure on EU nations to conclude their own deal with America for freeing up trade.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which lowers trade barriers to goods and services between 12 Pacific Rim nations, but not China, and sets new standards for worker rights and environmental protection, still requires ratification by individual countries and faces months of fraught debate in the American Congress. It was nevertheless being promoted openly yesterday as a strategic victory and a counterweight to Chinese influence. “We can’t let countries like China write the rules of the global economy,” President Obama said in a statement.

Sean