U.S.’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a no go—again.
After recently suggesting that he would consider rejoining the TPP—which came after he yanked the United States from the trade pact last year—President Donald Trump appears to have changed his mind once more.
Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday night following a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to reveal his latest stance on the matter. He wrote that there are “too many contingencies” in the existing plan, expressing a preference for bilateral trade deals, calling them “more efficient, profitable and better for OUR workers.”
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
Trump noted in the post that Japan and South Korea “would like us to go back into TPP,” but that he doesn’t “like the deal for the United States.” The inclusion of South Korea confused experts, as it is not currently part of the 11-nation agreement.
S Korea isn’t in TPP.
Just FYI. https://t.co/ma0YIwpS1Z— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 18, 2018
While it is unclear what’s behind Trump’s most recent change of heart, it’s unlikely that the participating countries would bewilling to renegotiate the deal in such a way that would satisfy the U.S. president. As recently as April 13—just a day after hinting that the U.S. may considering rejoining the TPP—Trump wrote on Twitter that he would “only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama.”
