Alarm bells start ringing as US strikes Pacific Rim trade pact

The signing earlier this week of the largest regional trade accord in history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership has set new terms for trade and business investment across Asia and the Pacific and the US.

It encompasses roughly 40% of global GDP and one-third of world trade. It will give a boost to partners within the trade bloc, but will also inevitably pull trade away from Irish exporters and the European trade bloc.

The agreement will remove most of the remaining import tariffs between the US, Japan, and the other nine countries in the new trade bloc.