Japan's chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Kazuyoshi Umemoto, said Tuesday that Japan would welcome the idea of Britain joining the TPP trade group after Brexit.
"The purpose of the TPP is to establish a rule-based multilateral trade system befitting the 21st century. And it's an open system. So any country, any economy willing to abide by the rules, willing to become a part of it, is basically welcome and a decision will be made on a consensus basis among the original signatories or the members at the time," Umemoto said at a press conference in Tokyo.
"At the same time, we don't know what will happen with Brexit, so there are lots of unknowns before the U.K. makes a decision on whether to seek membership or not," he added.
Umemoto also said Japan welcomes the positive moves the United States is making toward the pact. Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's comment on a possible return to the TPP, Umemoto said: "Without TPP-11, there will be nothing that the United States will be able to come back to. We still hope that one day the U.S. will be a part of this partnership."
At the same time, he indicated that he thought it would be difficult to alter the pact at this time. "In practical terms as a negotiator, to have another TPP -- I don't think we will be able to do that in the near future."
Canada showed reluctance at the final moment in November. But Umemoto expects Canada will sign the agreement. "From my experience, I wish I could say 100 percent. But maybe 99.99999 percent sure. I'm sure that Canada will sign ... [Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau talked about the TPP in Davos and he sounded very committed," he said.
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