Remaining TPP Countries Will Meet Again to Discuss Reviving Pact

The remaining 11 signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal are preparing for a 10-day meeting later this month, which will help gauge support for efforts to reinvigorate the troubled deal.There is little doubt that Japan, Australia and New Zealand all want to bring TPP into force, despite the Trump administration's decision to abandon it. Still, questions remain about the extent to which their enthusiasm and commitment is shared by other TPP members.Japan is eager to see TPP activated because it does not want bilateral trade negotiations with the US due to the Trump administration's view that "anybody that has got a surplus with the US has to be dealt with," Alan Oxley, Australia's former ambassador to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), told Bloomberg BNA. GATT was the predecessor to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Vietnam and Malaysia have shown some ambivalence to reviving TPP, but "the rest appear to be quite keen to want to do something," Oxley added.Trade officials from the 11 remaining TPP countries will meet August 20-30 in Sydney, Australia to discuss prospects for activating the trade pact the office of Australia's trade minister Steven Ciobo confirmed August 10 to Bloomberg BNA. Earmarking 10 days for the Sydney TPP talks could indicate that the negotiations will be make or break moment for efforts to reach broad agreement on a way forward.