Washington abandoned the 12-nation pact in January shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who had promised on the campaign trail to pull his country out of what he called a “job-killing” free trade agreement.

“I think the President has made his position quite clear, he’s made the formal decision and I think we’ll leave it at that, I don’t think it is the time yet, to start new initiatives multilaterally with the United States, perhaps one day the time will come,” said Mr Lee in an interview with CNBC ahead of his official working visit to the US from Saturday (Oct 21) where he will meet with Mr Trump.

Mr Lee stressed, however, that trade and investments between the US and Asia continue apace despite the TPP setback.

“There’s no TPP but the volume of trade nevertheless is substantial and we hope that it will still be able to grow,” he said.

Asked by CNBC anchor Christine Tan whether the US still matters to Asia politically and strategically given its withdrawal from the TPP, Mr Lee stressed that both sides have significant stakes in their partnerships and these will continue.

“Well, they pulled out of the TPP means that we didn’t conclude this deal to have a free trade agreement. It doesn’t mean that the existing trade stops, it doesn’t mean that investment flows are abandoned. It does not mean that Asians are not travelling to America to work, to study, for tourism or Americans are not all over the region,” he said.

“These are very big stakes we have in each other and which we’ll continue. We had hoped that with a TPP that would have given it an extra boost. Well, that’s not to be but we have what we have and we’ll find other ways to take it forward.”

The TPP was signed in February last year by 12 countries — including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the US — covering around 40 per cent of the global economy.

Under the TPP, a minimum of six countries accounting for 85 per cent of combined GDP of the 12 members must be ratified before the agreement can come into force.

The remaining signatories have agreed to pursue the trade deal without Washington.

Asked who among the remaining 11 TPP signatories was taking the lead on the issue, PM Lee said: “I think all the 11 are. Many of the 11 are quite keen.”

He noted that trade ministers of the 11 countries have been meeting to discuss the issue and there could be new developments at the Asia Pacific Economic Partnership summit in Vietnam next month.

At the same time, he cautioned that it is too early to put a timeframe on when TPP will be revived.

“There’s a tide in these affairs and if you miss the tide, you may be able to achieve the same objectives one day. It will have to be in a different form, in a completely different way,” he said.

“It will take several years before you can come back to it, and stars have to come back into alignment.”

When asked if Singapore and the rest of South-east Asia would pivot more towards China and its Belt and Road initiative instead, Mr Lee said that the region was “paying a lot of attention to China one way or the other.”

“They are a big factor in the world, they are successful, they are growing, they want to grow their influence and all the countries in Asia want to be their friend and want to benefit from China’s development and success,” he said.

Mr Lee added that at the same time, it was important for the US to pay attention to the region because Asia has been a source of strength and prosperity for America.

“It has many partners here, it has enormous amount of trade here, it has resources from Asia, energy particularly,” he said.

“It has security interest in Asia, and the fact that Asia is stable and prospering and not a troubled part of the world, I think that’s a great relief to the United States to say the least.”
 

Source: todayonline.com