There is "no appetite" among the Trans-Pacific Partnership signatories for major renegotiations to accommodate the US, Australia's trade minister said Sunday after President Donald Trump indicated he was considering rejoining the pact.
Mr Trump said on Thursday the US could re-enter the TPP if it could get a "better" deal, a major U-turn after leaving the Pacific trade pact last year and calling it a jobs killer.
But Australia's Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said he "can't see any appetite for any kind of wholesale renegotiations of the TPP deal to accommodate the United States".
"Now don't get me wrong, that's not saying we don't want the Americans back in, we do," Mr Ciobo told Sky News Australia.
"But what I am saying is I can't see us unpicking all the stitching that brought this deal together to accommodate the US at this point."
He said there are "pros and cons" with the US joining, particularly as Australian farmers will benefit when the TPP comes into operation and especially beef farmers' access into Japan.
"If the United States isn't a part of it then that is good for Australia ... because it means our Australian beef farmers are getting much market access than US beef farmers," the minister said.
One area Mr Ciobo would draw the line on the US entry is over its previous demand for pharmaceutical patent protections.
President Donald Trump. Source: AAP
"Australia will not accept a situation where we would see an impact on our pharmaceutical benefits scheme or the pricing of drugs in Australia," he said.
"I have always been firm on that, the government is firm on that."
Who are the TPP 11?
Eleven Asia-Pacific nations signed a slimmed-down version of the trade agreement, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), in March.
Apart from Australia, the pact also includes Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, representing together 13.5 percent of the global economy.
The 11 states form a market of 500 million people.
The deal was signed just before Mr Trump slapped steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminium, and also before tit-for-tat warnings between the US and China over imposing levies on each other's goods.
- With AAP
