Study: TPP to Boost U.S. Exports by 9 Percent Annually

The Trans-Pacific Partnership by 2030 will boost anticipated yearly U.S. exports by 9 percent, to $357 billion above baseline estimates, immediately cut three-quarters of tariffs, and eliminate 99 percent of tariffs among all 12 member countries when fully implemented, a new study released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics states (here). Co-authored by PIIE visiting fellow Peter Petri and Michael Plummer, director of Johns Hopkins’ Europe division of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, the study that combined exports of all countries will increase by more than $1 trillion, or 11.5 percent, per year after TPP is implemented. Furthermore, the study says that delaying the pact’s implementation by one year would bring a $77 billion loss to the U.S. economy. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said earlier this month that the Obama Administration hopes the agreement will enter force by early 2018. Expected to “generate substantial gains” for the U.S., Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam, and create “solid benefits for other members,” the pact will also prohibit tariffs on e-commerce, and should help small- and medium-sized enterprises gain better access to online platforms and to ease their regulatory compliance burdens.