The move has sparked alarm among anti-TPP activists, who believed the agreement between 12 Asia-Pacific economies would be abandoned once the US had left it. The Nikkei Asian Review reported Japan's deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, as saying the remaining participants would "begin talks on implementing the deal in May" during a speech in New York. Auckland University law professor and a leading campaigner against the TPP, Jane Kelsey, warned in a statement that "if Todd McClay commits New Zealand to this path, he will guarantee that the TPPA becomes an election issue". A key issue, if TPP is to be resuscitated without US involvement, will be the likely push by many signatories to renegotiate elements of the original pact that were inserted as a result of US demands. The 11 remaining signatories are Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia and Peru.

Source: New Zealand Herald April 20, 2017 21:33 UTC