Updated at 12:33 a.m.
President Trump on Tuesday shared his dislike of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral trade deal with countries along the Pacific Rim, deeming bilateral arrangements to be “far more efficient, profitable and better” for U.S. workers.
“While Japan and South Korea would like us to go back into TPP, I don’t like the deal for the United States,” Trump tweeted. “Too many contingencies and no way to get out if it doesn’t work. Bilateral deals are far more efficient, profitable and better for OUR workers. Look how bad WTO is to U.S.”
While Japan and South Korea would like us to go back into TPP, I don’t like the deal for the United States. Too many contingencies and no way to get out if it doesn’t work. Bilateral deals are far more efficient, profitable and better for OUR workers. Look how bad WTO is to U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018
The tweet comes after Trump said earlier this month that he had instructed National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to examine re-entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership, nearly a year after he pulled the U.S. from the multilateral trade agreement.
Last week, Trump said he was considering joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership again, but only if the deal were “substantially better” than what had been proposed 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!”
During the 2016 campaign Trump maligned the trade deal, saying at one point it was “pushed by special interests who want to rape our country.”
The White House said Thursday that Japanese officials were open to including the U.S. into the deal ahead of Trump’s two-day summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week.
Kudlow told reporters that there were “discussions and considerations,” as he reiterated that Trump prefers bilateral agreements.
“The president has said many times he greatly prefers bilaterals to multilaterals,” Kudlow said. “I can’t say what we’ll do. It’s way too early.”
Kudlow also conceded that Trump would “like to see a free trade agreement.”
All 11 countries that surround the Pacific Ocean, except for China, ratified the agreement this year without the U.S. South Korea is not part of the trade deal as Trump suggested.
