MEXICO CITY: The sweeping trade deal for the Pacific region known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) might still be implemented by making adjustments to its text even though the US has withdrawn, Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday.
The TPP, which had been promoted by former US President Barack Obama and Japan as a way to counter China’s influence in a fast-growing region, was written in a way to prevent implementation without the US.
But if Japan leads the way, that clause could be stripped out without “any problem,” and Mexico and other members could evaluate the pros and cons of pushing forward with the TPP without the US, Guajardo said at an event.
“A TPP 11 instead of 12,” he said in reference to the remaining signatories to the deal since US President Donald Trump withdrew the US after taking office in January. “But we would have to see if nations such as Vietnam would put the same things on the table without the US,” he added.
Following the US’ departure, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are still signed up to the TPP, though most must have put off ratifying it.
TPP signatories are expected to delve deeper into trade at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit that Vietnam is hosting this year. Ministers start meetings in May and heads of state will gather in November.
Several alternatives to the TPP have been floated since Trump was elected in November, from inviting China to join the pact to doubling down on efforts to forge bilateral trade deals.
Mexico is looking to diversify its trading options to counter the threat of Trump ditching the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which underpins the vast bulk of its commerce and binds it with the US and Canada.
Guajardo said that Trump’s recently signed “Buy American and Hire American” executive order that aims to boost purchases of American products in federal contracts might violate NAFTA by giving US industries a new advantage, but he said it was still not clear how it would play out.
Trump said Tuesday that he plans to make some “very big changes” to NAFTA or else get rid of it.
Guajardo also said that the exchange rate was moving toward a more sustainable level after what he described as an overreaction by the market.
Mexico says TPP might still be implemented without US
Mexico says TPP might still be implemented without US
Work suspended on Riyadh’s massive Mukaab megaproject: Reuters
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has suspended planned construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the center of a downtown development in Riyadh while it reassesses the project's financing and feasibility, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Mukaab was planned as a 400-meter by 400-meter metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, the largest on the planet, that visitors could observe from a more than 300-meter-tall ziggurat — or terraced structure —inside it.
Its future is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended, three of the people said. Development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, five people familiar with the plans said.
The sources include people familiar with the project's development and people privy to internal deliberations at the PIF.
Officials from PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about $50 billion — roughly equivalent to Jordan’s GDP — with projects commissioned so far valued at around $100 million.
Initial plans for the New Murabba district called for completion by 2030. It is now slated to be completed by 2040.
The development was intended to house 104,000 residential units and add SR180 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP, creating 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030, the government had estimated previously.
(With Reuters)
