Report: U.S. expresses interest in getting back into Trans-Pacific Partnership

President Martín Vizcarra has claimed that U.S. leaders want back in on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) a little more than a year after backing out of the trade agreement.

The Miami Herald’s Latin American analyst Andrés Oppenheimer reported Tuesday that Vizcarra told him that U.S. Vice President Mike Pence expressed interest privately in getting back on board with the 12-nation trade agreement during last weekend’s Summit of the Americas in Lima.

“The United States has seen, with sort of admiration, the fact that TPP has gone forward positively despite the U.S. withdrawal,” Vizcarra claimed Pence told him. “And that, re-evaluating the situation, they would be keen on participating, for which they will look into the possibility of re-joining.”

The partnership originally involved the U.S. when it was created in February of 2016. Less than a year later, when Donald Trump took office in January of 2017, he immediately withdrew the U.S. from the agreement

Due to the constant confusion emanating from Donald Trump’s administration, it’s unknown if Trump really feels that the partnership is a bad deal, as he referred to it again in a Tweet on Tuesday. Just last week he said he would be open to rejoining if the agreement was somehow made better for the U.S.

The trade agreement has received criticism from more U.S.-based critics than just Trump as political theorist Noam Chomsky has said the deal propels neoliberalism and free market-based agendas that ultimately clamp down on workers’ rights throughout the world.

The TPP was originally agreed upon by Barack Obama’s administration along with partner countries like Peru, Mexico, Japan, Chile, Canada and others sharing Pacific coastline.

Of the agreement that cuts down tariff costs between member countries, Vizcarra told Oppenheimer he would be fine with inviting the U.S. back into the fold.

“The United States has realized that the current world economy requires to open up markets, and not shutting them down,” he told The Miami Herald. “This attitude would show that they have thought things over and that if they re-join the agreement as it was initially conceived, it would be a good thing for the world.”

Other member nations, though, may not be waiting with open arms to let the U.S. back in. According to CNBC, one Singapore official said he doesn’t think the 11-member nations that include Singapore would be open to renegotiating the terms that Trump may seek.