President Donald Trump ordered U. S. trade negotiators to explore the possibility of restarting talks on joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership again on Thur
President Donald Trump ordered U. S. trade negotiators to explore the possibility of restarting talks on joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership again on Thursday, in a move likely to please Japanese diplomats who have invested heavily into bringing the U. S. back to the massive trade deal.
In addition to the clear economic benefits of including the world’s largest economy in TPP, U. S. participation in further negotiations could also relieve trade pressures currently building between the U. S. and the Asian region.
“For Japan’s economic diplomacy getting America back to the table on TPP would be a huge win,” said Yorizumi Watanabe, professor of policy management at Tokyo’s Keio University.
“If America returns to the TPP it is a big plus for the Japanese economy. Rather than one specific industry it is good for the economic environment as a whole, and could help increase growth rates and investment,” said Watanabe in a phone interview.
An analysis by the Japanese Cabinet Office released in December 2017 showed that the original TPP deal would have pushed up long term real growth in gross domestic product by 2.59 percent, a significantly higher rate than the 1.49 percent expected under the TPP deal without the U. S. — which is now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP-11. In comparison, the Japan-EU trade deal concluded at the end of 2017 was expected to increase real term economic growth by 1 percent, according to the same government report.
Watanabe added that the if the United States were to rejoin the pact there may be less of an appetite for demanding negotiations with Japan over a bilateral trade deal, an issue which has caused frictions between the two countries.
