28 November 2016, 09:18 GMT
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Sasae acknowledged plans by President-elect Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement between 12 Pacific-Rim nations.
"Under this circumstance, we still want to work with the incoming [US] government, together with the new Congress and the Senate, talking about the strategic importance of this TPP… reflecting the reality of economic transactions in the region," Sasae said on Thursday.
Trump has called the TPP a poorly negotiated agreement, expressing fears that the pact would encourage US companies to move manufacturing to poorer Pacific-rim countries to reduce labor costs.
As a businessman, Trump claims he can negotiate better trade deals, which will not create job losses in the United States.
