--- title: Barack Obama: China 'Putting Out Feelers' to Join Asia Trade Deal description: “They've already started putting out feelers about the possibilities of them participating at some point,” he said canonical: https://time.com/3908381/barack-obama-china-trans-pacific-partnership/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-03T23:21:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:53:46.118Z article:section: Politics og:title: Barack Obama: China 'Putting out Feelers' on Trade Deal og:description: In an interview with NPR's Marketplace og:url: https://time.com/3908381/barack-obama-china-trans-pacific-partnership/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09855ae394a18ea8/6987edff2dce010dd39e1a04/trans-pacific-partnership.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with leaders from the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the US Embassy in Beijing on Nov. 10, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Barack Obama: China 'Putting out Feelers' on Trade Deal twitter:description: In an interview with NPR's Marketplace twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09855ae394a18ea8/6987edff2dce010dd39e1a04/trans-pacific-partnership.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama: China Could Join Asia-Pacific Trade Deal > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 3, 2015 11:21 PM UTC  President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with leaders from the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the US Embassy in Beijing on Nov. 10, 2014. President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with leaders from the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the US Embassy in Beijing on Nov. 10, 2014. Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 3, 2015 11:21 PM UTC **Correction appended, June 4** President Obama said China had been “[putting out feelers](http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/president-obama-talks-trade/president-obama-says-china-open-joining-trade-partnership)” to join a pending trade pact with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Obama has often used China as a sticking point in his sales pitches for the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership over the past several months. China is not one of the 11 countries involved and Obama has often said the deal itself is necessary to keep China, which has the world’s second largest economy, from writing the rules on trade in the Asia-Pacific region. But on Wednesday, he hinted that the country may be interested in joining the deal in response to a question posed by Kai Ryssdal, the host of American Public Media’s [_Marketplace_](http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/president-obama-talks-trade/president-obama-says-china-open-joining-trade-partnership) podcast. “They’ve already started putting out feelers about the possibilities of them participating at some point,” he said, adding vaguely that China had reached out to “us, to Jack Lew, the Treasury Secretary.” Later on Wednesday, Obama is scheduled to meet with the Treasury Secretary in a closed-door meeting at the White House. Obama also said Wednesday that if the deal is reached and countries in the Asia-Pacific region are agreeing to higher labor, environmental, and non-discrimination standards, “then China is going to have to at least take those international norms into account.” The interview Wednesday was one of five conducted from the White House in an effort to round up support for the president’s trade promotion authority, which would give him a “fast-track” to push the deal through. Later in the interview with Ryssdal, Obama said there are “a lot more winners than loser” in the deal, which has faced the fiercest backlash from members of his own party. **Correction:** The original version of this story incorrectly described the program Marketplace. 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