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Japan welcomes Trump shift on TPP, but warns against renegotiation

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The U.S. are so embarrassing! "We want the TPP"..."No, we don't want it anymore, we don't need it, we are so strong!"..."Uhm, wait...Maybe it's better if we join TPP too!" I can't stop laughing.

15 ( +19 / -4 )

Forget it. Not every country wants to suck up to the USA. I'd prefer UK after Brexit to join but then the name would have to change. Transnational partnership? Just not China, not USA, not Russia.

CPTPP11, the 11 countries together make up a market in the metric system as well.

USA is a huge market to be sure, so it would be unrealistic to ignore completely and thus regular trade will occur, but given their protectionist and annoying attitudes it would be better one-on-one deals rather than pretending they'd respect a group deal.

If they're in the CPTPP11 they'd want changes and it just becomes another USA system for them not a partnership with others. Yuck

Regular trade will suffice or one on one deals

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Trump is realising that to have a trade war and win, you need a plan B and maybe a plan C for when things get tough. If he is expecting more concessions for joining the TPP he is dreaming. He will be lucky if what was on offer originally is reinstated.

Trump might just be learning that it is wise to have friends because the US cant go it alone against the world and still win.

14 ( +14 / -0 )

The 11 countries should negotiate nothing. The US joins or stays out. The pact is done and signed, everyone agreed on the terms, there is no reason to change anything for the US.

15 ( +17 / -2 )

4D chess or knight to e5 followed by knight pulling a snacked arse face and asking if he can go back?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

What a disaster! Hope he doesn't follow through with it. Look for your medicine costs to skyrocket as US drug companies sue to have drug prices set to US levels and sue for lost profits (which they can do under TPP). What are they thinking?!?!?

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Japan welcomes means Abe administration...For me, no thanks! JK Trump brick-head-of-no-control!

0 ( +6 / -6 )

If the TPP is not renegotiated, Trump cannot go back to his base and say he negotiated a better deal for the US. So I hope for no renegotiation. But I really hope for the US to just stay out.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Why does Trump have so much trouble understanding that "no" means "no"?

7 ( +10 / -3 )

BintaroToday 04:28 pm JST

The 11 countries should negotiate nothing. The US joins or stays out. The pact is done and signed, everyone agreed on the terms, there is no reason to change anything for the US.

i don't suppose they have to change anything. but they'll have to deal with aluminum / steel taxes and whatever else trump has added since leaving the original tpp negotiations. so i bet it'll be in their interest to make some concessions (japan wanting to sell cars and all)

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Kudlow is an avowed free-trader, his appointment and Trump’s newly found open-minded thinking on the TPP are probably no coincidence.

Kudlow has also talked if forming a trade coalition of the willing to stand against China’s practices.

But what is unclear is exactly what would have to change for TPP to now be acceptable to Trump.

Whether TPP is free trade, or regulated trade, I am dubious, but haven’t read the thousands of pages to know. The existence of so many pages at all does add to my skepticism.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This just shows that when he pulled out of the TPP for his first act in office, he had no idea what it entailed. He is such an imbecile.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

CrazyJoe: "This just shows that when he pulled out of the TPP for his first act in office, he had no idea what it entailed. He is such an imbecile."

Agreed, but remember it was the same in Japan when they hmmmm'd and hawed about staying out when the US was thinking of staying in, and everyone talked about them being left in the dust. Same goes with Trump; he made a stupid, unilateral move to appeal to certain sectors that vote for him.

"...while stressing that Washington should accept the original terms."

Selective amnesia. Japan did not accept the original terms to begin with, so why does everyone else have to toe the line when it comes to Japan's terms? If the US wants to join and it is conditional on renegotiation, I think most countries will be open to it. In Japan they say even changing a Sports Day is "extremely difficult", because they just don't want to do it.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Most people want consistent leaders although some scholars argue that good leaders are inconsistent :)

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

gokai_wo_maneku wrote:

If the TPP is not renegotiated, Trump cannot go back to his base and say he negotiated a better deal for the US. So I hope for no renegotiation.

Trump shamelessly claims to have gotten the upper hand on every matter outside of the investigation by the special counsel Mueller. Even if there is no renegotiation that restores the original US stipulations, Trump likely will boast that accepting the current TPP terms is a victory.

He certainly embarrasses people who value honest, careful thought from the president. I wish your prediction would come to be, but some 70% of the GOP still think Trump does a great job after ceaseless administration missteps.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Ahh, the chorus of sanctimonious squeals of indignation by all the usual crowd who still haven’t got the memo that the days of one-sided mercantilist profiteering and cynical, flagrant trade gamesmanship are officially over. The TPP was negotiated when the old dispensations were still largely in place. Trumpism is the metaphorical equivalent of a thousand of Abe’s arrows, and a breath of fresh air that is already working its magic. East Asians and others are now falling over themselves in fawning supplication as they realize that reciprocity is here to stay and that America and others who’ve long tolerated bad faith trade that thrives in rigged markets are no longer to be fobbed off like before. The single largest economic player has had a change of heart but instead of welcoming them abroad and extending an olive branch, all we hear is gloating and vengeful insult.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

History tells us that the freest trade does not necessarily guarantee maximum growth of the world economy. It also tells us that the launch of the WTO regime and various other initiatives to further liberalise the world economy, including TPP, had, at best, a marginal effect on global economic growth. In this respect, President Trump's dumping of TPP and his intended revisions of other trade agreements themselves would not have strong negative effects on the world economy.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

America: We will get what we want, when we want, how we want. If you have any problem with that, we will use our media to destroy you.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

But what is unclear is exactly what would have to change for TPP to now be acceptable to Trump.

Easy peasy: Don't touch a thing but exclaim how much better Trump has made it. Massaging Trump's ego always takes precedence to reality.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I don't think Japan is in a position to "warn" the US against doing anything.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Nobody (except you) is talking about "destroying" anybody. And if the media are out to "destroy" anybody, it's Trump they're after.

Look what they are doing with Russia, Iran, China. When it comes to foreign affairs, the US media gets their information from the government. The government says Russia did this, it must be true. The government says Iran is a threat, must be true. There is nothing more easy for the US authorities than to demonize any country they choose. It's literally like taking a candy from a baby, all they have to do is make up a lie or a story and it's game over for Japan. Nobody will care what Japan has to say. Remember how easy it was for US to do an image makeover of Japan after WW2, they spent years demonizing them with propaganda, and then within just couple of years they turned Japan from an evil enemy into a friendly rainbow bunny.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

the US media gets their information from the government.

You're comment lost credibility after you wrote that.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Trump should not enter TPP - TPP is a trap to to continue huge trade imbalances in favor of countries such as Japan.

Japan has bilateral one on one trade agreements with other countries such as Australia. What is Japan afraid of to have a bilateral trade agreement with the United States of America?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

countries such as Japan.

Japan is basically a freeport anyway. Maybe some food could use a little work but basically it's trade free in Japan. In the mind of the Trump voter Trump is failing. Not only is he going to join. He has to join TPP in its original state as Obama had it.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

No way. Why get involved with a war lord loser wanna be?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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