Japan and 10 other countries were moving closer to a deal on pushing ahead with the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact without the US, in a sign of how Pacific Rim economies are moving on with globalization despite resistance from Donald Trump. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was expected to join leaders from other TPP countries including Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam as soon as Friday in declaring their commitment to the pact on the sidelines of a regional summit that Trump is attending. But chief negotiators were continuing to hash out the details late into the night in the Vietnamese beach resort of Da Nang with ministers from leading countries offering conflicting assessments of their progress, the Financial Times reports. Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s economy minister, told reporters a ministerial agreement had been reached. However, Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s trade minister, turned to social media to declare that an agreement had yet to be concluded.
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