LONDON — Two of the world’s biggest trading blocs are cautiously eyeing closer ties to short-circuit Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The European Union and a 12-nation Indo-Pacific bloc are opening talks to explore proposals to form one of the largest global economic alliances, multiple people with knowledge of the talks told POLITICO.
Canada is spearheading the discussions after Prime Minister Mark Carney called on middle powers to buck trade war coercion last month, days after Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Denmark’s European allies if it didn’t cede Greenland.
Ottawa is “championing efforts to build a bridge between the Trans-Pacific Partnership [CPTPP] and the European Union, which would create a new trading bloc of 1.5 billion people,” Carney told world leaders and the global business elite in Davos.
CPTPP is such a stupid name. Say what you will about the US, but at least they try to get good acronyms for everything
USMCA is better?
No, and I got the vibe Trump was the only one that liked it.
CUSMA and MACUS are at least pronounceable, though, so it works for the rest of us.
Captain PP.
This goes hard
I loved it pronounced so many time in this video: https://youtu.be/brZgN-DDtV8
Yep, I saw it, was hilarious. The host almost broke laughing once or twice
Its just a perfunctory acronym.
Same as the US ones ever were…
AUSFTA. BUSFTA. DRCFTA. CUSFTA. USCFTA. PUSTPA. TTIP. NAFTA. FTAA. USTFTA.
Yeah, they really roll off the tongue.
NAFTA wasn’t bad at all
The point of listing the others is that NAFTA being pointed to as a ‘good sounding’ or ‘well-named’ acronym is that it’s completely by accident.
The US almost always titles their trade agreements [country initial]USF(ree)T(rade)A(greement), and their acronym.
Near zero thought goes into it.
PATRIOT Act, KOSA, etc
I didn’t realize those were trade agreements.
See Petey pee-pee
It sounds like someone blowing a raspberry. The terrible name notwithstanding, I hope Carney can pull this off. I found him a bit disappointing in his first quasi-year in office but this would really deliver on his promise of Canada being a leader of the middle powers.