U. S. President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull held talks on Friday at the White House where the two leaders sought to put aside previous tensions, but divisions on trade remained.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U. S. President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull held talks on Friday at the White House where the two leaders sought to put aside previous tensions, but divisions on trade remained.
Trump pulled the United States out of the original 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership – which was backed by Turnbull – soon after taking office last year and he repeated his opposition to the deal during a joint press conference on Friday.
“The Trans-Pacific Partnership was not a good deal for us,” Trump said, stressing that he would rejoin a deal that was better for the United States, but prefers bilateral deals over pacts involving many countries.
Trump has argued the trade deal would hurt U. S. workers.
Australia and the other remaining members of the pact published an amended version of the agreement this week and are expected to sign the new deal in March.
China’s rising global power was also on the agenda for the White House talks with Turnbull. Trump has been a harsh critic of China’s trade policies, while Australia has typically taken a less confrontational approach with China, its largest trading partner.
