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Added on the 23/05/2022 07:58:07 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
Trade ministers from 12 countries announced the largest free trade deal in a generation on Monday in Atlanta. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal started with an agreement signed in 2006 between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.It then expanded to 12 countries, including the US and Japan, which have a population of about 800 million and are responsible for 40% of world trade, BBC reported. The agreement will impact a vast array of business sectors including agriculture, automotive, pharmaceuticals and environmental.According to the Guardian, besides eliminating or reducing over 98 percent of tariffs across a range of sectors, it will also allow foreign companies to sue governments if they feel their profits are affected.For instance, a tobacco company such as the Philips Morris would be able to sue a country for unappealing or image-damaging packaging.Critics of the trade deal say that negotiations have been dealt mostly in secret and that it gives corporations too much power.Agriculture also proved to be another sticking point with countries like New Zealand wanting more access to markets in Canada, Mexico, Japan and the United States.
President Joe Biden will still leave Wednesday for the G7 summit in Japan but is reevaluating the rest of his planned tour of Asia, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council John Kirby tells reporters, as the White House negotiates with Republican leaders to avoid a US debt default. Until now the president had planned to also visit Papua New Guinea and Australia after the G7 meeting in Hiroshima. SOUNDBITE
G7 top diplomats meet in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa for talks focused on Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Discussions will set the stage for a leaders' summit in Hiroshima next month. IMAGES
The leaders of NATO partners Australia, Japan, New Zeland and South Korea arrive the summit in Madrid and pose with NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg for a family picture. IMAGES
US President Joe Biden lands in Japan on Sunday for the second leg of a trip to reinforce US alliances in Asia. Biden, making his first trip to Asia as president, flew from South Korea to Yokota Air Base outside Tokyo, and will meet with Japan's prime minister and unveil a US-led trade initiative for the region on Monday, before joining a summit of the Quad regional grouping Tuesday before returning to Washington. IMAGES
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