Conflicting reports on whether a tentative TPP deal has been reached

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Multiple media outlets, including Reuters and Inside Trade, are reporting an agreement-in-principle has been reached between the 11 remaining countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations in Vietnam this week.

However, Canada’s trade minister denies there’s a tentative deal, a day before world leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, meet in Vietnam.

The Nikkei Asian Review quotes Japan’s economy minister as saying they reached a ministerial agreement on Thursday, and will look to officially approve the agreement on Friday. Reuters says Mexico’s representative also indicated a deal had been reached.

Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s trade minister, is participating in the TPP negotiations on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Vietnam. Following the aforementioned media reports, he tweeted that there is still no agreement.

Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay’s spokesperson also said “no agreement in principle as you might have read otherwise” in an email on Thursday.

Canadian agriculture groups representing sectors that rely on trade have been pushing the Canadian government to get the deal done as soon as possible.

TPP talks started in 2010 with Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States. Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Mexico joined later. All 12 signed a deal in October 2015, but it was contingent on U.S. participation, which ended with President Trump pulling out of the TPP earlier this year.

More to come…

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