US in trade talks with Asian nations to replace TPP, commerce secretary says

The new trade discussions target multiple countries in Asia, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters at the 2017 SelectUSA investment summit

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US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross speaks at 2017 SelectUSA Investment Summit in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:15am, 20 Jun 2017Updated: 11:28pm, 6 Jul 2017

The US has started trade talks with multiple countries in Asia to find an alternative to the failed Trans-Pacific Partnership, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said.

“We expressed a willingness on the US’ part to indulge in bilateral talks with Japan” on a trade agreement, Ross told reporters at the annual SelectUSA investment conference in Washington, organised by the Commerce Department.

“We’ve also had some very, very preliminary scoping sessions with some of the other individual nations.”

Wilbur Ross, US commerce secretary, left, with Mary Barra, chief executive officer of General Motors Corp and Jeff Immelt, chief executive officer of General Electric Co in a panel discussion at the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Monday. Photo: Bloomberg

Ross declined to specify with which other countries the US has resumed talks, saying: “We like to announce things when it’s agreeable to the other nation. The Japanese have acknowledged our overture. So far, I don’t think other nations have.”

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US from TPP on his first day in office, following through on a campaign pledge he said would help stem job losses. That move was at odds with the wishes of most US state leaders, Scott Pattison, CEO of the National Governors Association, said in a separate press briefing at SelectUSA.

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