Australia has welcomed comments by US President Donald Trump that the United States would return to a Pacific-wide trade pact if American negotiators were able to create a better agreement.
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Japan are among the 11 Pacific nations that have signed up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was thrown into disarray last year when Mr Trump pulled the US out.
"I would do TPP if we made a much better deal than we had. We had a horrible deal," Mr Trump said in an interview with CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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Malcolm Turnbull say he doesn't expect the United States to return "any time soon".
The prime minister told reporters in Canberra on Friday it would be "great" if the US came back, but had a word of caution.
Trade Minister Steven Ciobo says the comments are welcome and there is scope for the US in the revised version, known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
"I will discuss President Trump's comments with my US counterpart, the United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, when I see him tomorrow," Mr Ciobo told AAP from Davos on Thursday.
"The original TPP was conceived as an open platform, where new members could join if they met the agreement's standards and there was consensus. This structure remains in the CPTPP."
The agreement would eliminate more than 98 per cent of tariffs in a trade zone with a combined GDP of $13.7 trillion.
Mr Ciobo says for Australia that means new trade agreements with Canada and Mexico and greater market access to Japan, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
Australian farmers will be able to sell more beef, cheese, wheat and rice to Japan and more sugar to Canada and Mexico.
