President Trump said he was interested in re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership, nearly a year after he withdrew the U.S. from the multilateral trade agreement, if the deal were “substantially better” than what had been on the table during the Obama administration.
“Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama,” Trump tweeted Thursday night. “We already have BILATERAL deals with six of the eleven nations in TPP, and are working to make a deal with the biggest of those nations, Japan, who has hit us hard on trade for years!”
Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama. We already have BILATERAL deals with six of the eleven nations in TPP, and are working to make a deal with the biggest of those nations, Japan, who has hit us hard on trade for years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2018
Trump told a group of senators during the day Thursday that he had instructed National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to examine reentering TPP.
This isn’t the first time Trump has brought up the prospect of re-entering the TPP. In January, he told CNBC that he was open to being included in the pact again “if we were able to make a substantially better deal.”
Trump’s interest in the TPP, albeit with conditions, is a departure from his rhetoric slamming the deal while as a presidential candidate.
“The Trans-Pacific Partnership is another disaster, done and pushed by special interests who want to rape our country,” Trump said at a campaign rally in June 2016. “It’s a harsh word, but it’s true.”
The Obama administration negotiated the TPP, but Congress never voted on the pact amid bipartisan opposition to the agreement. When Trump took office, he signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the deal.
All 11 countries that surround the Pacific Ocean, except for China, ratified the agreement this year without the U.S.
