Trump notifies UN of Paris exit while keeping option to return
WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration began the formal process to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, but says it's willing to "re-engage" if terms more favorable to the U.S. are met.
The State Department said it notified the United Nations that the U.S. will pull out of the global agreement as soon as it can under the terms of the 2015 accord, but President Donald Trump would agree to remain in the deal was reconfigured to be better for U.S. interests.
"As the president indicated in his June 1 announcement and subsequently, he is open to re-engaging in the Paris Agreement if the U.S. can identify terms that are more favorable to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, and its taxpayers," the State Department said.
The U.S. will continue to participate in international climate negotiations, including the upcoming U.N. meeting on climate change "to protect U.S. interests and ensure all future policy options remain open to the administration."
The filing by the State Department kicks off a withdrawal process that will take years to unfold and is largely symbolic. Under terms of the deal, the earliest the U.S. can formally remove itself from the accord is in November 2020 _ just after the next presidential election.
_Bloomberg News
