CPTPP: The new trade deal on the block

India must move quickly to join the 11-member grouping that is set to alter the global trade regime quite significantly

Over the last one month, the regional trading environment in Asia has undergone a very significant change that has gone largely unnoticed in India. The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement came into effect on December 30, 2018, among six of its 11 signatories that include Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore. The CPTPP, originally the 12 member Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, has thus gone ahead despite pullout by its largest member economy, the United States. On January 14, its seventh member, Vietnam, joined after ratification of the agreement. The first round of tariff cuts— 95