Australia is leading the charge to save the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal thrown into doubt by Donald Trump’s decision to pull America out of the pact.

As fears rumble of a new global era of protectionism, Asia Pacific trade ministers gathered in Vietnam on Sunday with Australia, Japan and New Zealand at the forefront of efforts to save the deal.

The 12-nation TPP covered 40% of the global economy before Trump abruptly abandoned it in January as part of a campaign pledge to save American jobs he said had been sucked up overseas.

But some remaining members of the pact – the so-called TPP 11 – are desperate to keep the deal alive, believing the pact will lock-in free trade as well as boost labour rights and environmental protections.

After the Sunday morning meeting, the Australian minister for trade, tourism and investment, Steve Ciobo, said: “It’s important to leave the door open to the United States. It may not suit US interests at this point in time to be part of the TPP, but circumstances might change in the future.”

New Zealand’s trade minister, Todd McClay, told reporters that the TPP 11 “are committed to finding a way forward to deliver” the pact.

Trade representatives in Hanoi have said they are ready to tweak the deal to leave room for a US return, pinning hopes on a U-turn in American policy.

Spearheaded by former US president Barack Obama, the far-reaching TPP – which notably excludes China – would have rewritten the rules of 21st century trade and was seen as a way to counter Beijing’s regional economic dominance.



What is the TPP? The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a 12-nation trade pact aiming to liberalise the flow of goods among countries in the Pacific Rim. The product of more than seven years of negotiations and a signature achievement of Barack Obama's presidency, the TPP would cut tariffs on thousands of items and attempt to unify copyright laws across its members.

China notably declined to sign on to the deal and Donald Trump has announced he will withdraw from the agreement, following through on a campaign promise that struck a chord with many working-class US voters. There have been protests against the TPP in the United States, New Zealand and Japan.

Reviving the TPP, even without the heft of the world’s biggest economy, would still provide ballast against China, analyst Alex Capri told AFP.

“The Chinese would not be particularly pleased to see the TPP go ahead even without the United States,” said Capri, a senior fellow and professor at the National University of Singapore.

He did not rule out the eventual return of the United States to the TPP, noting that Trump has “flip-flopped” on other campaign positions in a headline-grabbing first few months in office.

The TPP ministers are meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

The newly-appointed US trade chief, Robert Lighthizer, attended the two-day gathering, where he was scheduled to meet one-on-one with several ministers, including from China, Canada and Mexico.

The Reagan-era trade veteran has been tasked with renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement – another deal Trump promised to pull out of, though he later backpedalled after speaking to the leaders of Canada and Mexico.

The Trump administration has said it is seeking bilateral agreements over sweeping free trade pacts, and is pushing for fair trade with partners, not just free trade.