MFAT keeps '24-hour watch' on Trump, seeks US bilateral trade deal while TPP still on the table

MFAT keeps '24-hour watch' on Trump, seeks US bilateral trade deal while TPP still on the table
Sophie Boot
By Sophie Boot Feb. 9 (BusinessDesk) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is keeping a 24-hour watch on the Trump administration while it works towards a bilateral free-trade deal, even while a Trans-Pacific Partnership deal excluding the US remains on the table. At the ministry's annual review this morning before the foreign affairs, defence and trade select committee, chief negotiator David Walker said it hadn't been a surprise that President Donald Trump pulled the US out of TPP, but it had been a disappointment. New Zealand sti...