Trump vows to withdraw from TPP ‘on day one’

[chahlley]

(Hot News Today Wednesday 23 November 2016)

Trump vows to withdraw from TPP ‘on day one’

TRUMP TO DUMP TPP

I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership,

a potential disaster for our country. US President-elect Donald Trump in a video he released

on YouTube yesterday (picture)

WASHINGTON — Snuffing out any lingering hope that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be revived, United States President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will withdraw the country from the pact on his first day in the White House -— barely a day after Asia-Pacific leaders pledged to push ahead with the ratification process.

The announcement brought an immediate response from China, which promised to move ahead with its own trade pact — the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)  — which brings together the 10 members of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) plus China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, but notably excludes the US.

Mr Trump’s announcement early yesterday, following days of hopeful speculation about whether he would unravel his campaign promise to renegotiate the treaty that he says does not benefit ordinary Americans, effectively spelt the death knell of the trade pact which regional leaders have been scrambling to rescue.

International leaders reacted in disappointment to the announcement, while expressing hope that the Trump administration would be willing to explore other options for free trade.

“I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the TransPacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country,” Mr Trump said in a short video message outlining priorities of his first 100 days and executive actions to be taken “on day one”.

“Instead, we will negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores,” he said. He said his agenda will be based on “a simple core principle: Putting America first”, adding that he wants to reform Washington and rebuild America’s middle class.

Mr Trump’s controversial campaign has been based around tapping the anger of working-class Americans who feel left behind by globalisation.

Both the 12-nation TPP — signed in February but not yet in force — and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement featured heavily in the brutal White House race. Mr Trump said they harmed the US economy and jobs, and many see his victory as a repudiation of ever-deeper commercial ties.

Analysts have said the move could give Beijing — which backs the alternative RCEP — an opportunity to forge ahead with its own trade deals and fill a vacuum left by any American withdrawal.

RCEP talks were pressing ahead, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang yesterday, adding that “now, we hope that such negotiations can achieve early results”.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: “(The) TPP without the United States would be meaningless”.

The Japanese leader told reporters in Buenos Aires that the 12 TPP leaders who met in Lima over the weekend did not discuss putting the deal into effect without the US.

The US and Japan are the biggest members of the massive trade deal, which would encompass some 40 per cent of the global economy if it goes into force. It also includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The deal, which has been years in the making, cannot be implemented in its current form without the US.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said Singapore was pushing ahead to amend its legislation and bring into effect the TPP by early next year. Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry did not respond to queries by press time.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key told reporters yesterday there were alternatives to the TPP.

“The United States isn’t an island. It can’t just sit there and say it’s not going to trade with the rest of the world,” Mr Key said. “At some point they’re going to have to give some consideration to that. But naturally, we’re a bit disappointed,” said the New Zealand leader.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: “Time will tell whether and to what extent the new administration and the new Congress engages with the TPP or an evolved version of that agreement. There is very strong support among the other 11 parties to the TPP to ratify it and to seek to bring it into force.”

Mr Turnbull said the Trump administration will need to make its own decisions in America’s interest. “It is very clear that from Australia’s point of view, getting greater access for Australian exports, whether it is goods or services to those big markets is manifestly in our interest,” he said. Agencies

 Instead, we will negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores.

Mr donald Trump  U.S. President-Elect