Article content

The biggest trade deal in history — the Trans-Pacific Partnership — was assumed to be dead when the United States pulled out last January.

But it has been quietly resurrected by the 11 other signatories, including Canada, and officials in a number of partner countries say an agreement-in-principle could be signed by leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting in Vietnam in November.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or John Ivison: Resurrected TPP could get done this year and Canada is better off without U.S. in it Back to video

Senior officials from the 11 countries met in Tokyo Wednesday, the third such round of talks, and officials from Canada, Japan and New Zealand all expressed optimism that a deal could be signed in Vietnam, then sealed and delivered in 2018.

The timing couldn’t be better for the Liberal government, which has always been ambiguous about its enthusiasm for the TPP.

“We are working actively to re-evaluate and reconsider options for potentially moving forward, following the end of TPP12 talks,” said Joseph Pickerill, communications director for Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne.