What on earth is the CPTPP?
A new trade block emerges from the ashes of the TPP
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/sites/default/files/20180310_BLP525.jpg)
By A.F.
THE prospects for global trade look bleak. Donald Trump has signed controversial orders imposing heavy tariffs on steel and aluminium. China and the EU have threatened to retaliate. But while potential trade wars are hogging the headlines, they are not on the agenda everywhere. On March 8th trade ministers from 11 countries gathered in Santiago, the capital of Chile, to sign the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. What is this (clunkily acronymised) new deal?
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