Japanese officials cautiously welcome Trump’s TPP remark

January 26, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese cabinet members on Friday welcomed, albeit cautiously, US President Donald Trump's remark hinting that the United States may consider returning to the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement.

"I welcome his recognition of the significance of the TPP," Economic Revitalization Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who is in charge of TPP negotiations, stressed at a news conference after a cabinet meeting.

Just before the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe mentioned Trump's remark, Motegi also said.

In an interview with US broadcaster CNBC in Switzerland on Thursday, Trump said, "I would do TPP, if we made a much better deal than we had."

"I want to know what he meant when he made the comment," trade minister Hiroshige Seko said. The US leader has so far criticized multilateral trade pacts under his "America First" policy.

"The TPP's contents have already been fixed," Foreign Minister Taro Kono said, indicating there is no room for renegotiation.

"The top priority is to put TPP 11 into effect," Motegi emphasized, expressing hope that the reworked TPP deal will be signed by Japan and 10 other remaining member countries in March as scheduled so that it will be put into effect early.

Trump last year withdrew his country from the original TPP, which had 12 members.

The remark may be a signal that the Trump administration will modify its strategy to focus on bilateral free trade pacts.

"The deal was terrible, the way it was structured was terrible," Trump said. "If we did a substantially better deal, I would be open to TPP."

But the president stopped short of commenting on specific conditions for his country's return to the TPP.

"I like bilateral, because if you have a problem, you terminate. ... You don't have that same option" with multilateral pacts, Trump also said.

Trump is visiting Davos to deliver a speech at an annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Following the US exit, Japan and 10 other countries reached a broad agreement on a new TPP deal in November last year.

The 11 countries have recently agreed to sign the new TPP in March this year, while calling on the United States to return to the TPP framework. Jiji Press