SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Trump Proposes Rejoining Trans-Pacific Partnership [nytimes.com]

President Trump, in a surprising reversal, told a gathering of farm state lawmakers and governors on Thursday morning that he was directing his advisers to look into rejoining the multicountry trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership [nytimes.com], a deal he pulled out of within days of assuming the presidency [whitehouse.gov].

Rejoining the 11-country pact could be a sharp reversal of fortune for many American industries that stood to benefit from the trade agreement's favorable terms and Republican lawmakers who supported the pact. The deal, which was initiated by the Obama administration, was largely viewed as a tool to prod China into making the type of economic reforms that the United States and others have long wanted.

Both Democrats and Republicans attacked the deal during the president campaign, but many business leaders were disappointed when Mr. Trump withdrew from agreement, arguing that the United States would end up with less favorable terms attempting to broker an array of individual trade pacts and that scrapping the deal would empower China.

Republicans in Congress have also been skeptical of Mr. Trump's tendencies on trade, and 25 Republican senators [senate.gov] sent a letter to Mr. Trump urging him to re-engage with the pact "so that the American people can prosper from the tremendous opportunities that these trading partners bring."

Previously: Donald Trump to Withdraw US from Trans-Pacific Partnership [soylentnews.org]
Renamed TPP Signed, Without the IP Rules, Without the USA [soylentnews.org]

Related: "Legal Scrub" of TPP Makes Massive Change to Penalties for Copyright Infringement [soylentnews.org]
US Government's Own Report Shows Toxic TPP "Not Worth Passing" [soylentnews.org]
Australia Leads Charge to Revive TPP While Canada Abstains [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission