Inside US Trade Quotes Clete Willems on Possible US Participation in CPTPP
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Inside US Trade has quoted Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems in the article “Report: Next administration should strike deals as stepping stones to CPTPP,” which discusses a new report encouraging the United States to strike sector-specific deals with Asia-Pacific countries as a means of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The report, according to the article, says Washington must try to understand the limits and priorities of CPTPP partners. The article says the report also encourages the United States to engage more with CPTPP members on trade and economic matters through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the G-20 and the World Trade Organization.
According to Willems, who spoke about the topic at a recent webinar organized by the University of Nebraska’s Yeutter Institute (click here for more), U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House trade advisor Peter Navarro have resisted a return to the Trans-Pacific Partnership even more than President Trump, who has repeatedly refused to rejoin despite pressure from members of Congress.
“There were multiple occasions when the president considered it, and actually had my old boss [former Director of the National Economic Council] Gary Cohn write a process or at least start writing a process to reconsider TPP,” said Willems. “But Lighthizer really didn’t want to do it because he thought it had to be changed too much to meet some of the President’s objectives.”