The 11 countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership have reached a “comprehensive and progressive” agreement (CPTPP) that they hope will take effect in 1Q 2018. The deal excludes 20 areas – many of which the U.S. had insisted upon before its exit earlier this year – but are still hung up on four major issues. For the Canadian government an important one is rules-of-origin, especially in autos, which are also at the core of NAFTA negotiations. That highlights a concern we’ve had for several months – namely trade deals tripping over each other if their core terms conflict with each ...