Trump signs order withdrawing from Trans-Pacific Partnership News
Trump signs order withdrawing from Trans-Pacific Partnership

US President Donald Trump [official website] signed a memorandum [text] Monday withdrawing the US from the Tran-Pacific Partnership (TPP) [NYT backgrounder]. The TPP, signed [JURIST report] nearly a year ago, was a trade pact between the US and 11 Pacific Rim Nations, including Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand. The deal, which would have promoted trade between the US and the nations involved, had been a consistent target for Trump, who stated that it would harm domestic American labor. The Trade Representative website which formerly contained the terms of the deal now contains [official website] a pro-domestic trade statement from the new administration.

The move represents a fulfillment of a campaign promise [JURIST report] for Trump, and a repudiation of one of former president Barack Obama’s most ambitious accomplishments, first passed in June of 2015 [JURIST report]. A statement [text] on the official White House website suggests that the president intends to use a threat of similar withdraw from NAFTA [official website] to renegotiate the trade deal with Canada and Mexico. However, concerns remain that withdrawing from such trade deals could ultimately be to the nation’s determent long term; Senator John McCain issued a statement [text] concerning the TPP cancellation, calling it a “serious mistake” that will have “lasting consequences” for America’s economy.