Revised TPP deal released, US requests left out

The final version of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was released Wednesday, with rules proposed by the United States noticeably absent from the final draft, Reuters reports.

Eleven nations agreed in January to the finalized version, which suspends a number of intellectual property protections originally pushed by U.S. negotiators. The United States withdrew from the trade deal last year at the behest of President Trump, who campaigned against the deal designed in part by the Obama administration.

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The now 11-nation pact will reduce global tariffs by a total of $10 trillion worldwide, a number that would have been much higher had the U.S. not abandoned the deal.

Provisions desired by U.S. negotiators in earlier rounds of talks centered around intellectual property protections, particularly for pharmaceuticals, a provision that critics argued would raise drug prices around the world.

The rules were suspended or changed in the final document, Reuters reports.

Proponents of the deal say it will serve as a counterbalance to protectionist policies promoted by the Trump administration.

“[TPP] has become more important because of the growing threats to the effective operation of the World Trade Organization rules,” New Zealand Trade Minister David Parker told Reuters.

Other governments issued statements in support of the final version of the deal, which they say will lead to job creation.

“The [deal] will help create new Australian jobs across all sectors – agriculture, manufacturing, mining, services – as it creates new opportunities in a free trade area that spans the Americas and Asia,” Australia’s Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said in a statement to Reuters.

In January, Trump hinted the U.S. could re-enter the TPP if provisions were changed to be more favorable to the U.S., which now looks unlikely.

“I would do TPP if we were able to make a substantially better deal,” Trump told CNBC in January, adding that the TPP was a “horrible deal” as written.