The long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership text was released Thursday morning after rampant rumors about when the day would finally come.
Trade experts speaking at Wednesday’s 27th Annual Apparel Importers Trade and Transportation in New York City, speculated that the text would be released “very soon,” one conjecture that ultimately proved true.
On the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) website, “What’s in TPP” is front and center and users can read the full text or click specifics like: “Explore the overall U.S. benefits,” “Explore the over 18,000 tax cuts in TPP,” or “Explore the strategic importance of TPP.”
The TPP text still isn’t in its final form as it awaits an exhaustive legal scrub, so there are quite a few disclaimers throughout.
A letter from U.S. Trade Ambassador Michael Froman within the report on the nearly 18,000 individual tariff cuts, said TPP is the largest tax cut on American exports in a generation.
“When the rules are fair, Americans can outcompete anyone in the world. That simple yet powerful idea is at the heart of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a next-generation trade agreement that will give our workers, farmers, and businesses a fair shot in the fastest-growing region of the world and support more good jobs here at home,” Froman said.
Today’s release doesn’t yet start the clock ticking on President Obama signing the agreement as his administration still hasn’t notifies Congress of its intent to enter into the TPP agreement, which will start the 90 countdown for when the trade deal can be signed. That notification is expected to occur “soon.”