TOKYO -- The U.S. must accept the Trans-Pacific Partnership essentially as is if it hopes to rejoin the trade pact, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said Monday, as the 11 remaining members prepare to sign their own version of the deal in March.
The president spoke to The Nikkei during a visit to Tokyo. Chile was one of the four parties to an agreement that eventually resulted in the 12-member TPP, signed in 2016. On March 8, all members but the U.S. will gather in Santiago, the South American nation's capital, to sign the so-called TPP 11 bringing into effect many provisions of the broad trade pact. The U.S. withdrew from the TPP in January 2017, right after President Donald Trump took office.
