Wine industry joins the fight for TPP

Here today, gone tomorrow. President Trump’s decision not to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a regional free trade agreement of unprecedented scope and ambition which was his predecessor’s pet project, has Australia’s wine industry worried.

The 12 countries that negotiated the TPP – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam – represent around 40 percent of the global economy and a quarter of world trade, it was reported.

In 2014, the 12 signatory countries accounted for 45 percent of Australia’s wine exports – or AUD 837 million (USD 638 million) out of the total AUD 1.9 billion wine export value.

Expectations were such that, once the import tariffs were scrapped over the course of several years, Australia’s wine exports would surge.

But with President Trump announcing in January 2017 that the US would not ratify the deal, Australia’s wine industry placed its hopes on a “Plan B” promised by the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Steven Ciobo.

Minister Ciobo said that all options for the TPP were under consideration and, as the TPP provides great opportunities for the Australian wine sector, “we must do everything in our power” to make sure the agreement comes into force. But he also warned that considerable discussion and work by the remaining TPP members would need to take place before any possible Plan B was decided on.

After seven years, TPP negotiations were concluded in 2015 and the finalised proposal was signed in February 2016. The ratification process by all signatories was scheduled to take 24 months.