President Donald Trump has formally pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as he signed an executive action to withdraw from the negotiating process of the 12-nation trade deal.
It was one of the major international trade initiatives of his predecessor Barack Obama. As he signed the decree to withdraw the US from the TPP, Trump said, “We’ve been talking about this for a long time. It is a great thing for the American worker.”
TPP aimed to set trade rules for the 21st century and bind US allies against growing Chinese economic clout. Trump had vowed during the campaign to withdraw the US from the Pacific trade deal which he argued was harmful to American workers and manufacturing.
Trump had said the free trade agreements were lopsided against the US and vowed to implement more protectionist trade policies as president, rallying voters to the polls with his “America First” slogan.
The TPP was negotiated under former President Barack Obama, but never ratified by Congress, so withdrawing from it will not have an immediate, real effect on US economic policies, although it does signal a new and very different US outlook on trade under Trump.
Its signatories, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Brunei together represent 40 per cent of the world economy.
Fast tracking implementation of his campaign promises, Trump also signed two other orders including freezing the hiring of federal workers and hitting foreign organisations that provide abortions.