January 29, 2018
US President Trump hints at rejoining TPP; slams EU trade policy
US President Donald Trump in a speech Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, hinted that the US may rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, pointing out that his "America First" mantra "does not mean America alone", according to a report by Agence France Presse.
Earlier in an interview a day before with ITV News, he slammed the EU's trade policy with the US as "very unfair".
In the interview, which was to be aired Sunday, Trump lamented, "We cannot get our product in. It's very, very tough. And yet, they send their product to us-no taxes, very little taxes. It's very unfair".
He added, "I've had a lot of problems with (the) European Union, and it may morph into something very big from that standpoint—from a trade standpoint", the AFP reported.
The interview was made on the sidelines of the forum, where he presented his "America First" agenda.
The US opted out of the TPP (now renamed as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP) last year.
The TPP, for whose final negotiations ended early last week, includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
The livestock sectors in the 11 countries have generally accepted the revised TPP as a boon to their businesses because of increased access of their products to the member markets. Rick Alberto
