Xinhua recently published a commentary analyzing the drivers behind the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive cancellation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which excludes China and was a major agenda item for President Obama. The commentator expressed the belief that, overall, Trump is not a big fan of free trade, especially for “unfair” trade deals that will cost American jobs. He has called TPP a “potential disaster.” Another reason identified in the commentary was Trump’s campaign promises, since he would like to appear to keep the promises made to his voters in the “Rust Belt” states, who were the forces that defined this past election. However, the whole world is now taking a wait-and-see attitude on Trump’s proposed alternative – bilateral trade agreements. Many analysts have expressed a concern over the potential loss of U.S. leadership in the Pacific region as an outcome of the new policy, which brings a lot of uncertainty.
Source: Xinhua, November 22, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2016-11/22/c_129374046.htm