JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The absence of the US in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) does not have to mean the end of the planned trade deal, the CEO of the Minerals Council of Australia, Brendan Pearson, said on Tuesday.

Commenting on US President Donald Trump’s formal withdrawal from the trade pact, which was the centrepiece of Barack Obama’s Asia policy, Pearson said that Australia still had much to gain from the TPP.

For the mining and services sectors this includes market and investment opportunities in nations like Peru, Vietnam and Canada, among others, he said, pointing out that Australia had a free-trade agreement with the US.

“A ‘TPP minus one’ won't be easy, but there is clearly considerable momentum among the negotiating partners to take fullest possible advantage of the deal on the table,” Pearson said, as it emerged on Tuesday that Australia is leading a push to salvage the trade pact.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that there was an opportunity for the TPP to proceed without the US, adding that he had held discussions with other leaders, including Japan's Shinzo Abe, to maintain momentum towards concluding the long-planned deal.

The TPP, which was led by the US, involved 12 nations until the decision and covered about 40% of global gross domestic product (GDP).

Turnbull also stated that his government continued to work on opening new markets for Australian exports and pointed out it was seeking to secure new trade agreements with Indonesia and a new trade agreement with India.

"We are constantly working to open the doors of new markets and open wider the doors of existing markets for Australian exporters because that is where the jobs are to be found," Turnbull said.

Meanwhile, Pearson said Australia should continue to work with its 15 East Asian partners to intensify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. This negotiation includes the ten ASEAN economies plus China, Japan, India, New Zealand, Korea as well as Australia.

“That's a market of 3.5-billion people with a collective GDP of $22.5-trillion,” he pointed out.

In recent days, Chinese President Xi Jinping has signalled that China will embrace further market opening.

“We and other RCEP partners should take him at his word and seek to intensify the RCEP negotiations.”