Joe Biden’s digital trade deal could see US rejoin Asia-Pacific pact ditched by Donald Trump
- Donald Trump withdraw the United States from negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017
- It has since been replaced by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
Plans by the United States for a digital trade agreement covering Indo-Pacific economies may be a step toward Washington rejoining a regional trade deal that president Donald Trump exited in 2017, Australian trade minister Dan Tehan said.
Asked by Bloomberg Television’s Annmarie Hordern on Thursday if the digital deal would be a precursor to the US joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Tehan said “there are a lot of countries in the region that would hope that that would be the case, but our view is let’s take one step at a time”.
The digital pact would be an early effort by the Biden administration to present an economic plan for the region after Trump’s decision to withdraw from negotiations for the trade deal in 2017.
Let’s take one step at a time and create the bipartisanship for a digital trade agreement in the Indo-Pacific region and if we can take that first step, hopefully we could look at a second step, which would be [Trans-Pacific Partnership] membership by the United States
Tehan said that he had “very good meetings” with US lawmakers about the digital pact.