US President Donald Trump has asked his senior leaders to explore the possibility of re-joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) if there could be a ‘better deal’.
Markedly, the revised CPTTP, without the USA, that was signed in March aims at reducing taxes in the 11 member nations (New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.) that together account for 13% of world economy.
The Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Xuan Phuc had recently said that it was in the great interest of all member countries for the USA to join the pact.
Phuc had even said that if the USA joins the agreement, there would be huge growth in the region and therefore, Vietnam and Japan would call other member nations to persuade Trump to join CPTPP.
If the USA joins CPTPP, it would represent 40% of the global economy.
It might be recalled that the original agreement, which was known as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) had received a major setback early last year when Trump withdrew from the pact.
Trump had then defended his decision to withdraw as a measure to protect jobs in the USA.
The White House, while denying that it was a reversal of Trump’s foreign policy, has said that the USA had withdrawn from TPP as it was unfair to its workers. If there is a possibility of a better trade deal, the USA has no qualms on re-joining CPTPP.
But is it too late for the USA to have realised? No doubts, there’s likely to be reluctance among many of the members of the pact because of distrust with Trump. Also, the members know that they’d be reworking a new deal with Trump, who would like to put ‘America First’ as has been his agenda.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
