“Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Trump has frequently disparaged multilateral trade deals, calling the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement a “disaster.”The news was welcomed by lawmakers from agricultural states. However, he “has consistently said he would be open to a substantially better deal, including in his speech in Davos earlier this year.”To that end, he has asked Lighthizer and Kudlow “to take another look at whether or not a better deal could be negotiated,” she said. Some experts have said joining the trade pact could strengthen the US position in their current trade spat with China, which is not a party to the agreement. Farm groups and political leaders from US agricultural states have been most outspoken in denouncing Trump’s trade confrontations with Europe and China, which until recently appeared ready to boil over into all-out trade war.

Source: Manila Times April 13, 2018 16:30 UTC