WASHINGTON • US 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 • US 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.
Mr Trump pulled the United States out of the original 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership – which was backed by Mr Turnbull – soon after taking office last year, and he repeated his opposition to the deal at a joint press conference on Friday.
« The Trans-Pacific Partnership was not a good deal for us, » Mr Trump said, stressing that he would rejoin a deal that was better for the US, but that he prefers bilateral deals over pacts involving many countries. He has argued that the trade deal would hurt US workers.
Australia and the other remaining members of the pact published an amended version of the agreement last week and are expected to sign the new deal next month.
