TPP countries agree to move ahead with trade pact without U.S.

DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Countries in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) have reached an agreement to push ahead with the trade pact without the United States, by suspending some provisions from the original deal, Vietnamese and Japanese officials said on Saturday.

Ministers from the eleven TPP countries met this week on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the resort city of Danang in Vietnam.

The agreement follows days of uncertainty over whether the countries would be able to agree on the terms of the deal, after U.S. President Donald Trump ditched it this year in favour of an "America First" policy.

(Reporting by Mai Nguyen and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Stephen Coates)