The past week has seen a series of potential signals from the US on next steps for different trade negotiating processes, amid varying statements from US President Donald Trump on whether he may pursue re-entry into a Pacific Rim trade deal, as well as a leaders’ level meeting with Japan and a regional summit in Peru. Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from 17-18 April at the US leader’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where trade was a top item on the agenda. The US has been calling for launching bilateral trade talks with the Asian economic giant, with the hopes of getting market access gains in the fields of agriculture and automobiles, among other objectives, but Japan remains non-committal towards the prospect of a bilateral deal. The US-Japan leaders’ meeting, which ultimately saw the two sides pledge to hold deeper discussions on future trade cooperation, including on trade agreements, also drew additional scrutiny given recent conflicting statements from Trump on whether the US might ask to negotiate re-entry into a regional trade deal involving Japan. This accord is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the successor to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP had previously...