Even if Trump wants to rejoin TPP, that ship may have sailed

One week into his term, President Trump pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which had been intended to help the U.S. and allies rein in China’s push for economic dominance. The U.S. withdrawal amounted to a unilateral gift to China. Now, 15 months later, in the midst of a bilateral trade face-off with China, President Trump announced during a meeting with farm-state agricultural interests that the U.S. may “rejoin” TPP and asked his advisers to prepare options.U.S. markets surged in response to the good news that the U.S. might once again value and reap the benefits of multilateral trade agreements. At about the same time, President Trump decided to ease his demands on U.S. and North American content for autos covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).News that the president may now perceive strategic value in joining TPP, avoiding a dismantlement of NAFTA and in working with others to engage China on economic issues, is very positive. We congratulate the administration on this smart pivot. There are good reasons why the president may have taken this decision now, but there are also real barriers — both domestic and international — to the U.S. rejoining TPP.First, the other 11 original TPP signatories have moved on. In early March, they signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), after more than a year of re-negotiation.More than 20 TPP provisions, including many that reflected U.S. interest in protecting intellectual property rights, were suspended and do not now appear in the CPTPP. On the other hand, CPTPP does cover service sectors and agricultural products, unlike many other trade deals, and offers benefits for U.S. agriculture.