Trans-Pacific Partnership: Key Provisions & Strategic Implications

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) among the United States and 11 Asia-Pacific countries. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has described it as a comprehensive and high standard agreement, designed to eliminate and reduce trade barriers and to establish and extend the rules and disciplines of the trading system among the parties to the agreement. If implemented, it would be the largest plurilateral FTA by value of trade, encompassing roughly 40% of world GDP, and could serve further to integrate the United States in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region. As a living agreement, it has the potential to negotiate new rules and expand its membership. It could also mark a shift to the negotiation of mega-regional trade liberalisation agreements in lieu of bilateral FTAs and broader multilateral trade liberalisation in the World Trade Organization (WTO). This book examines the key provisions of the proposed TPP, related policy and economic contexts, and issues of potential interest to Congress. See more