VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - In an epoch-making deal, trade ministers from 12 Pacific Rim Countries have signed an agreement for a regional trade accord.
The new Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement will help liberalization of trade taxes and tariffs, and will offer a level ground for farmers, manufacturers and ranchers. Further, it commits on labor and environment.
Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States and Vietnam are the countries that reached the historic deal. These countries contribute 40 percent of the world's gross domestic product.T
The agreement was signed in Atlanta after several discussions over years.
The U.S. Congress will review the agreement in detail and will ratify it or reject it within next ninety days. The agreement would end around 18,000 tariffs, mostly import tariffs, among the members, that would boost mutual trading.
Canada currently has to pay 38 percent tariff for its beef export to Japan, but once TPP is implemented, Japan will reduce the tariff to nine percent for the next 15 years. The phase in period for different products is five to fifteen years.
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