Japan, Australia Vow to Put TPP into Effect Early

May 22, 2018

Buenos Aires- Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Australian counterpart, Julie Bishop, confirmed Monday their countries' commitment to putting the new Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal into effect at an early date.

Japan, Australia and nine other countries signed the trade deal in March, after the United States pulled out of the original TPP last year.

At their meeting in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of 20 foreign ministers, Kono and Bishop agreed that Japan and Australia will cooperate closely with other countries to maintain maritime order based on the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region.

The two ministers also discussed North Korea's nuclear program ahead of a U.S.-North Korean summit, which is slated for June 12 in Singapore. Jiji Press