New FTA welcome provided it's not harmful

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) came into being on Dec 30 as a new free trade accord among Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam. The newly signed trade deal is essentially a successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which US President Donald Trump withdrew from within days of assuming office in January 2017.

Despite the multilateral trade and economic mechanisms facing increasing challenges, the CPTPP demonstrates the consensus reached by the 11 member countries of the erstwhile TPP - except the United States - during the APEC meeting at Danang, Vietnam, in November 2017 has been put into practice. Which means the Asia-Pacific region could soon have three multilateral trade and economic mechanisms - the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference, the CPTPP and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which is likely to come into force this year.

The CPTPP has adopted the outcomes of the TPP's negotiations, and its 11 members hope to continue sharing the trade benefits brought about by the multilateral framework. As of November 2018, the legislatures of Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, New Zealand and Vietnam had ratified the pact, which means the seven signatories could soon enjoy a 90 percent reduction in tariffs.