Trump Willing to Consider Negotiations With TPP Countries

The U.S. "would consider negotiating" with the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement countries "either individually, or perhaps as a group, if it is in the interests of all," President Donald Trump said in a Jan. 26 speech. One of Trump's first actions as president was to withdraw the U.S. from the TPP (see 1701230041) and the remaining member countries recently reached a new deal (see 1801230059). Trump mentioned the idea while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The U.S. "is prepared to negotiate mutually beneficial, bilateral trade agreements with all countries," he said. "This will include the countries in TPP, which are very important. We have agreements with several of them already." The U.S. is also "working to reform the international trading system so that it promotes broadly shared prosperity and rewards to those who play by the rules," he said. "We cannot have free and open trade if some countries exploit the system at the expense of others. We support free trade, but it needs to be fair and it needs to be reciprocal. Because, in the end, unfair trade undermines us all."

Trump said the U.S. will no longer ignore "unfair economic practices, including massive intellectual property theft, industrial subsidies, and pervasive state-led economic planning." Such practices distort global markets and hurt businesses and workers globally, he said. "We will enforce our trade laws and restore integrity to our trading system. Only by insisting on fair and reciprocal trade can we create a system that works not just for the U.S. but for all nations."

The Trump administration should "follow up with immediate action in the pending 232 case on steel imports," Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in a news release. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recently submitted the results of a Section 232 investigation on the national security effects of steel imports (see 1801120023), which could result in tariffs, quotas or other import restraints on steel. “President Trump is right that we must enforce the rules so American workers can compete on a level playing field, and he can start right now by taking strong action against China’s steel overcapacity,” Brown said. “China’s cheating is shuttering American factories and American steelworkers cannot afford to wait any longer for relief.”