Agreement on 16-nation trade deal, the world's biggest, set for November
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Singapore’s trade minister said on Saturday that broad agreement on what has been labelled the world’s biggest trade deal should be reached at a summit of leaders from participating nations in the city-state in November, six years since talks began.
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The deal does not include the United States, which is locked in a trade spat with China and pulled out of another broad, international trade agreement in 2017 called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The White House said on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump would skip the November gathering of leaders in Singapore.
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“Yes. We are looking for that broad agreement, that milestone, to be achieved … when the leaders meet at the end of the year.”
However, he said it was not clear when a final deal would be signed.
© 2018 Reuters