Trump vows to pull US out of Trans-Pacific Partnership immediately

In a video statement Monday, President-elect Donald Trump laid out as his first priority the USA withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Former U.S. trade negotiator Steve Craven said he thinks the trade pact among 12 Pacific nations would have created new opportunities for the United States.

The president-elect said the USA will negotiate better deals that will bring back jobs to America.

Throughout his presidential campaign Trump has been a strong critic of TPP.

“Instead we will negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back on to American shores”, Trump said.

The video was issued after President Barack Obama and other leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation group, meeting in Peru, condemned Mr Trump’s election victory and Britain’s vote to leave the European Union as a backlash against free trade.

“Only then can we push ahead with trade and economic cooperation”, he said. Beijing tried to counter it by launching several initiatives that includes the One Belt, One Road program and a slew of free trade agreement proposals. Once Trump stated that he would pull America out of the Trans-Pacific agreement, Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan said the agreement would serve no objective without America. And without the United States participation, the TPP could be dead in the water. As recently as November 17, U.S. Wheat Associates urged the congressional leadership to allow a vote on T.P.P.

But the withdrawal of the world’s largest economy makes it very unlikely that lawmakers in the 11 other nations will ratify the document as it now stands.

The outlook for a cross-Pacific free trade deal looks bleak and would mean Australia missing out on billions of dollars of benefits.

“Even as we speak, China is seeking to advance their own trade agreement with countries in this region that we know is going to further disadvantage United States businesses and U.S. workers”.

Political leaders in Asia have reacted strongly to the development, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying the deal would be “meaningless” without US involvement.