FINANCIAL TIMES

22-11-16

Trump vows to renounce Pacific trade deal on first day in office

Japan’s Abe says 12-country pact will ‘have no meaning’ without US participation

by: Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington

Donald Trump has said he plans to begin pulling out of the 12-country Pacific trade deal championed by the Obama administration on his first day in office, sparking concern in Asia that the president-elect will turn his back on allies as China asserts economic might in the region.

In a video outlining steps he would take on January 20, Mr Trump said he would follow through on his campaign promise to walk away from the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership that took seven years to negotiate.

“I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country,” Mr Trump said in the video released on Monday evening. “Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back on to American shores.”

Some Asian signatories had expressed hope they could move forward with the pact — which excludes China but includes close US allies such as Japan, Canada and Australia — without Washington.

But Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, poured cold water on such ambitions, saying TPP “has no meaning” without the largest participant.

Speaking at a news conference in Buenos Aires, Mr Abe said renegotiating an 11-member deal was impossible, arguing that US absence “destroys the basic balance of gains” from the deal.

Mr Trump’s video, his first extended public remarks since his victory speech two weeks ago, resurrected one of the slogans that propelled his campaign over Hillary Clinton, saying his agenda would be based on the core principle of “putting America First”.

“Whether it’s producing steel, building cars or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, in our great homeland America — creating wealth and jobs for American workers,” Mr Trump said.

In his video, Mr Trump said his transition team was developing a list of executive actions — measures that do not require congressional approval — including the TPP notification that could be implemented on his first day.

Not all signatories agree with Mr Abe that the deal is at death’s door. Malcolm Turnbull, Australian prime minister, said he believed Mr Trump could still be turned around.

“[T]here 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.

Mr Trump also vowed to establish a rule that would require the federal government to eliminate two regulations for every new one that was created. He would also instruct the Pentagon to develop a plan to protect US infrastructure from cyber attacks and other threats. Mr Trump said he would tell the labour department to investigate any abuses of visa programmes that affect American workers.

Also announced was an ethics reform policy that, if implemented, could have a far-reaching impact on the many government officials who sign up with lobbying firms after their public service.

“As part of our plan to drain the swamp, we will impose a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists after they leave the administration — and a lifetime ban on executive officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.”

Mr Trump campaigned on a platform of bringing change to Washington and reducing the power of special interests. But his own transition came under fire after Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor initially given the task of managing the process, hired a number of lobbyists. Mike Pence, the incoming vice-president who has since taken over the transition team, at the weekend was unable to state equivocally that there would be no place for lobbyists in the Trump administration.

Questions have also been raised about the role of Mr Trump’s children, three of whom serve on the transition team while running his business empire. Critics have questioned why Ivanka Trump, his daughter, and her husband Jared Kushner were present when Mr Trump met Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, at Trump Tower last Thursday.