Trans-Pacific Partnership

“Somebody asked me the other day would I do TPP? Here's my answer. I would do TPP if we made a much better deal than we had. We had a horrible deal.”

A year to the day after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact, the 11 remaining Trans-Pacific Partnership countries have concluded negotiations in Tokyo for an agreement on their own, though some thorny issues have been pushed to side deals.

The 11 parties to the revamped Trans-Pacific Partnership could wrap up talks for a new deal as early as March, though doing so could require leaving Canada behind, Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official who negotiated TPP, told Inside U.S. Trade this week.

President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership during his first month in office disheartened the other 11 countries that had spent years haggling with the U.S. and each other over the deal -- the crown jewel of Trump’s predecessor’s trade policy.

The economy minister said “I believe the fact that 20 items are put on hold will encourage the U.S. to come back to the table.”

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Asia and the Pacific subcommittee on Wednesday lauded President Trump's burgeoning Indo-Pacific strategy, claiming countries in the region are “eager” to forge bilateral trade deals with the U.S.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Monday said the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific plans could overshadow the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which moved forward over the weekend without the U.S.

“I fear [the deal] will create an incentive for American manufacturers to move production to Mexico to access consumers in the Asia-Pacific, such as those in Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.”