US Welcomes Japan’s Endorsement of TPP

The United States welcomes Japan’s ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, Department of State spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, the upper house of Japan’s parliament ratified the agreement with 11 other Pacific countries, including the United States.

“We welcome Japan’s endorsement of the TPP,” Toner said, commenting on the Japanese parliament's vote. “As we’ve said all along, and as this administration said all along, we believe that the TPP is important for the region and establishing strong rules of the road in terms of our trade relations with partners in the region.”

The TPP’s fate has been in doubt since the election of Donald Trump as US president last month. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly threatened to scrap the pending deal in line with his expressed desire to prioritize domestic economic development over global trade.

The agreement, signed by its participants in February but still requiring ratification by some, would remove barriers in a free-trade zone that also includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

In November, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan would continue to advocate for the TPP in talks with US officials after Trump’s inauguration in January.

President Barack Obama’s administration has committed to getting the deal ratified before Obama leaves office next month, but the Senate is unlikely to vote on the TPP by then.