Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is holding out hope that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will reconsider the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that would be a major boost to the export-driven Southeast Asian nation.
Recent comments made by officials who are set to take senior roles in Trump's Cabinet give him reason to be optimistic of a possible agreement that can satisfy the U.S., Phuc said. Rex Tillerson, Trump's pick for secretary of state, said in his Senate confirmation hearings last week he wasn't opposed to the TPP, though he shared some of Trump's concerns about the pact. The U.S. president-elect had vowed on the campaign trail to withdraw from the TPP on his first day in office, saying such trade deals kill American jobs.
"I still believe the new administration of the United States will reconsider its perspective on the TPP and will also try to achieve a new generation agreement that will benefit all parties concerned," Phuc said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin at the Government Office in Hanoi on Friday.