Biden: I would ‘renegotiate’ Pacific trade deal

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday night he would “renegotiate” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), not seek to rejoin it as it was previously written.

During the second Democratic presidential primary debate, Biden said he would not automatically rejoin the trade agreement that former President Obama’s administration negotiated and President Trump withdrew from. 

{mosads}“I would not join the TPP as it was initially put forward,” Biden said. “I would insist that we renegotiate pieces of that with the Pacific nations … so that we could bring them together to hold China accountable.”

Biden pushed hard for the original deal while he was vice president, but prior to the debate his campaign has refused to whether he still supported it.

Biden said he would ensure there are more voices at the negotiating table this time, including environmentalists and labor.

One of Trump’s first acts when he took office was to withdraw the U.S. from the TPP, a sprawling 12-nation free-trade deal. The agreement aimed to curb Chinese influence in the Pacific and lower tariffs among the participant countries.