On October 5, trade ministers for the U.S., Vietnam, Japan, and 9 other countries, meeting in Atlanta, announced a Pacific Rim trade deal-known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement-after a week of intense of negotiations (White House Fact Sheet). FASA/Gemini attended the negotiations on behalf of the industry. While details of the agreement won’t be available for at least a few more weeks, early indications are that the fashion accessories provisions in TPP are positive. Under the provisions of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), Congress will have the opportunity to review and vote on the TPP agreement sometime in 2016. If approved by Congress and the legislatures of the 11 other TPP countries approve the agreement, the TPP agreement could go into effect as early as late 2018 or early 2019.
