A new US government report has predicted that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is likely to have a positive impact on the growth of the local economy.
The US International Trade Commission has released a report assessing the likely impact of the TPP trade deal, which has been signed with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
It was estimated that TPP would have positive effects, albeit small ones when measured as a percentage of the overall size of the nation's economy. By 2032 - the 15th year after the planned implementation - US annual real income is expected to be $57.3 billion (€51.07 billion) higher than baseline projections, representing a 0.23 per cent rise.
Real GDP, meanwhile, would rise 0.15 per cent to $42.7 billion and employment would be 0.07 percent higher, the equivalent of 128,000 additional full-time jobs. US exports and imports would rise by one per cent and 1.1 per cent to $27.2 billion and $48.9 billion, respectively.
The agriculture and food sector would see the greatest percentage gain relative to the baseline projections, with an output that is 0.5 per cent - or $10 billion - higher by year 15. The services sector would also benefit, though it was warned that the manufacturing, natural resources and energy industries might see a drop in output performance.
The report stated: "TPP would generally establish trade-related disciplines that strengthen and harmonise regulations, increase certainty and decrease trade costs for firms that trade and invest in the TPP region.
"Interested parties particularly emphasised the importance of TPP chapters addressing intellectual property rights, customs and trade facilitation, investment, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, and state-owned enterprises."
It was also noted that new e-commerce provisions to protect cross-border data flows and prohibit data localisation requirements may be crucial to encouraging the development of cross-border trade in services following TPP.
