While the United States walked away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the European Union is moving forward aggressively on free trade talks with countries in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.
Late last week, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay met in Brussels, Belgium, to conclude preliminary discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA). The EU is New Zealand's second-largest trading partner, with annual trade between them topping $7.5 billion.
Malmström was in the Philippines Friday for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic ministers and EU trade consultations to discuss trade relations and to advance plans for a region-to-region FTA between the EU and the 10-nation ASEAN. (Several of the ASEAN countries were part of the TPP.) The EU already has concluded agreements with Vietnam and Singapore.
NPPC, which strongly supported the TPP, is urging the Trump administration to initiate bilateral FTAs with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, beginning with Japan, the U.S. pork industry's No. 1 value market. NPPC Vice President and Counsel Nick Giordano recently was in Japan to discuss trade issues with industry and government officials.
Source: Growing Alabama