On January 23, 2018, in Tokyo, Japan, 11 countries concluded negotiations for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), also known as TPP-11. The full member countries of the agreement are: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Representatives of these countries subsequently signed the agreement in Santiago, Chile, in early March 2018.
Just one year earlier, in January 2017, the United States government, led by President Donald Trump, had opted to withdraw as a signatory to the TPP-11, despite it being the most significant global trade agreement, encompassing eleven of the world's most dynamic economies.
In September 2021, CPTPP members met to discuss the United Kingdom's membership application. At that same meeting, as a demonstration of the progress made in that membership, the Ministers of the 11 countries agreed to the creation of an E-Commerce Committee. This new Committee will promote digitalization in the region and play a central role in developing global standards in the field of e-commerce.
Costa Rica has Free Trade Agreements in force with five of the 11 CPTPP countries, four of them in the Americas (Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Peru) and one in Asia (Singapore); while Costa Rica does not have very active foreign trade with the remaining six countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Vietnam), and even with some of them, it is of little significance.
On August 10, 2022, Costa Rica's Minister of Foreign Trade, Manuel Tovar, signed a letter requesting accession to the CPTPP. Because this is such a recent request, the CPTPP Ministers have not yet had the opportunity to review it in a formal meeting.
If the application to join the Pacific Alliance (PA), made up of four Latin American countries (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru), presents an enormous challenge for President Chaves' government, a possible negotiation with the TPP-11 countries would constitute one of the greatest challenges for Costa Rican trade policy in the last 25 years.
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