US President proposes rejoining Trans-Pacific Partnership
(VOVWORLD) -US President Donald Trump said the United States will only join the Trans Pacific Partnership, a multinational trade deal his administration walked away from last year, if it offers “substantially better” terms than those provided under previous negotiations.
 US President Donald Trump (Source: Xinhua/VNA) |
The decision marks a stark change of attitude, as Trump opposed multilateral trade pacts during his election campaign in 2016 and pulled the U.S. out of the pact in early 2017.
In a statement, deputy White House press secretary Lindsay Walters pushed back on the notion that Mr. Trump is reversing himself, saying the president kept his promise to quit the TPP deal negotiated by the Obama administration because it was unfair to American workers and farmers. Walters said Mr. Trump has consistently said he would be open to a substantially better deal.
President Trump has directed his top economic adviser Larry Kudlow and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to negotiate a US re-entry into the TPP.