what is tpp

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was a proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States. It aimed to create a comprehensive free trade agreement covering 40% of the global economy. The agreement included rules on digital commerce, aimed to ensure the free flow of information across borders, and had provisions related to labor and environmental standards. The TPP was a cornerstone of the Obama Administration’s economic policy in the Asia Pacific, seeking to boost U.S. economic growth and support the creation and retention of high-quality American jobs by increasing exports in the region. However, the United States withdrew from the agreement in January 2017, and the remaining eleven countries agreed on a revised TPP, now renamed the "Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership" (CPTPP) in January 2018. The CPTPP is substantially the same as TPP but omits 20 provisions that had been added to TPP at the request of the United States. The TPP was the first regional deal to include comprehensive rules on digital commerce, which would have ensured the free flow of information across borders, and it was considered to be the centerpiece of U.S. President Barack Obama’s strategic pivot to Asia.