Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation “We expect to engage with members here in many cases on bilateral basis,” he told reporters. “The president made the decision, which I certainly agree with, that bilateral negotiation is better for the United States than

global according to the World Bank.

The trade ministers said in a statement that they agreed to launch a process to assess options to bring the agreement into force “expeditiously, including how to facilitate membership for the original signatories.”

The ministers have tasked their trade officials to present the assessment to their leaders when they meet for an annual the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam in November, which will also include Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

They also underlined their vision for the TPP to expand to include other economies, saying such efforts would address concerns about protectionism, contribute to maintaining open markets, strengthening the rules-based international trading system, increasing world trade and raising living standards.

Vietnam and Malaysia had been expected to be beneficiaries from the original TPP with greater access to US markets and investments. The TPP was championed by former president Barack Obama and was seen as a counterbalance to China’s growing influence in the region.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, making his international debut since taking office a week ago, defended Trump’s decision to pull out of