Costa Rica withdraws Pacific trade pact bid and dismisses trade minister

Costa Rica withdrew its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and dismissed Foreign Trade Minister Indiana Trejos on October 28, President Laura Fernández said, according to Reuters. The decision ends an accession effort that had advanced to negotiations over market access, with agricultural producers among those who had protested the proposed agreement.

Fernández attributed Trejos’s dismissal to a lack of transparency in the negotiations. In a video posted on social media, she said the agreement’s full content had been declared secret by negotiators: ‘Although it might seem like an excellent opportunity, its full content was declared secret by the negotiators to the point that almost no one knows what it entails,’ Reuters reported. Fernández did not name a replacement for Trejos.

Trejos disputes the transparency criticism

Fernández said she had instructed Trejos to share the full text with every affected sector and that none had received it in full, according to The Rio Times. The outlet reported that the negotiated accession terms remained unpublished, leaving the proposed tariff changes unclear. Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly had not voted on the pact because the accession protocol had not been signed.

How far Costa Rica’s CPTPP bid had progressed

Costa Rica applied to join the CPTPP in 2022, and the bloc opened its accession process in November 2024. During the process, Costa Rica reviewed its regulations against the pact’s rules and negotiated access to members’ markets for goods and services, Reuters reported. The Rio Times said the talks had substantially concluded in May 2026 and a signing had been planned for November. Fernández’s withdrawal therefore came after years of preparation and before a protocol was signed.

The CPTPP is a 12-member free trade bloc spanning the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Europe and accounting for nearly 15% of global gross domestic product, according to Reuters. It took effect in 2018 after the United States left the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. Membership would have linked Costa Rica to that wider trade framework; the unpublished accession terms prevent a precise assessment of what its negotiated commitments would have meant for individual sectors.

Agricultural producer groups had protested the accession bid, Reuters reported. Fernández promised support for farmers who do not export, including more government purchases from local growers and action against smuggling, according to The Rio Times. The president did not set out a budget or timetable for those measures. She also did not say whether Costa Rica might seek to resume accession later.