On 8 March 2018, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in Santiago, Chile. The Agreement brings together 11 countries whose combined economies make up 13.5 percent of world GDP – worth a combined US$10 trillion. The signing of the CPTPP is another important step for the agreement, which will enter into force after it has been ratified by six countries.

The CPTTP is essentially the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement that the United States withdrew from when the current Administration was sworn in, with certain TPP provisions (mostly those favored by the United States) “suspended” for the present.