United States President Donald Trump has now passed a presidential executive order pulling USA out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement effectively canning this aberration. The TPPA contains 30 Chapters and more than 2000 words, which is probably all gobbledegook to the average person. As the pros and cons could never be accurately assessed, it was therefore impossible to say who, if anyone, would benefit from TPPA and thus it was a very dangerous odyssey to ever embark on. It is fair to say all those countries who sought to clamber aboard forgot there are no free lunches in this world, yet every one of them thought they would benefit while on the face of it the size of the cake could get no bigger. From the NZ prospective our negotiations were initially run by ex-Trade Minister Tim Groser, who has since opted for greener pastures as New Zealand Ambassador to USA, John Key who has just ridden off into the sunset with the reins now taken over by battling Bill English, who still thinks there is mileage in flogging a dead horse. Good luck with that Bill but you are to put it politely ‘running against the wind'. As for local opposition to TPPA it was rather nebulous, rather short-sighted, looking to be based on self-interest and although it can be claimed they may get the result they desired, it is for the wrong reasons. Anyway, good riddance.

R Paterson, Mount Maunganui.