After five years of diplomatic wrangling, 12 countries from Asia and America have signed a sweeping free trade accord known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The deal does away with many trade barriers and aims to establish international standards for the protection of intellectual property, labour and the environment.
TPP looks set to make waves in the calm waters of international trade. Cross-border trade experienced a downturn during the financial crisis and growth has remained has low key since – the mere scale of the trade pact is bound to change that.