11 nations agree to continue TPP without US
The 11 nations met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting for trade ministers in Hanoi and agreed to assess options to bring the deal into force "expeditiously."
"These efforts would address our concern about protectionism, contribute to maintaining open markets, strengthening the rules-based international trading system, increasing world trade, and raising living standards," the group said in a ministerial statement on Sunday.
The group said it aimed to complete the assessment before it meets again on the margins of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in mid-November in Vietnam.
New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay has spent much of this year on the road, selling the plan to keep the agreement alive to partners who worried the absence of the U.S. wouldn't make the pact worthwhile.
"New Zealand's never thought that the agreement was dead," said McClay in a recent interview with CNBC. "One country decides not to go ahead, but it's still a high quality agreement and a common set of rules across the Asia Pacific."
source: cnbc.com
