Washington — President Donald Trump has said the US could re-enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it can get a "better" deal. The late-night tweet on Thursday could mark an abrupt about-face for a president who campaigned against the deal and swiftly withdrew from it after taking office last year. "Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama," he wrote. "We already have BILATERAL deals with six of the eleven nations in TPP, and are working to make a deal with the biggest of those nations, Japan, who has hit us hard on trade for years!" The statement came after the White House announced that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and top economic adviser Larry Kudlow were re-examining Washington’s position. Trump has frequently disparaged multilateral trade deals, calling the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) a "disaster". The news was welcomed by legislators from agricultural states. But his most hawkish t...

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