Tentative TPP rewrites trade rules for autos, drugs, produce, rice and IP, but faces legislative OKs

BUSINESS

Tentative TPP rewrites trade rules for autos, drugs, produce, rice and IP, but faces legislative OKs

White House press secretary Josh Earnest answers questions during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Monday. The U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries have agreed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an ambitious and controversial trade pact that cuts trade barriers, sets labor and environmental standards and protects multinational corporations' intellectual property. | AP

Bloomberg

Oct 6, 2015

WASHINGTON – The tentative agreement on trade negotiated by a dozen Pacific Rim nations will slightly pry open Japan’s famously closed rice market, protect brand-name drugs from generic competitors for at least five years and lower tariffs on automobiles.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, as the pact is known, will rewrite the rules of commerce among 12 nations that collectively produce an estimated 40 percent of the world’s economic output. It still faces hurdles, such as a vote in the U.S. Congress, but if ratified would have a far-reaching impact on goods and services.