DANANG, Vietnam – Trade ministers from 11 Pacific Rim countries have announced an agreement on pushing ahead with a free-trade deal whose destiny was uncertain after President Donald Trump dropped it.
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Vietnam’s Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh told reporters in the coastal resort city of Danang on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum: “We have reached an agreement on a number of fundamental parts.”
But he and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi say more work must be done before leaders of the countries involved can endorse the plan.
The 11 counties remaining in the trade pact rejected by Trump in January have been working to revise the deal to allow them to proceed without U.S. involvement. Motegi says that involved a difficult balance between maintaining high standards and pragmatism.
