PM backs Trump on TPP stance

MALCOLM Turnbull has defended President Donald Trump’s free trade credentials despite America’s withdrawal from the controversial TransPacific Partnership deal.

The Prime Minister discussed trade with US Vice President Mike Pence in their Sydney meeting yesterday.

Mr Trump’s decision to pull out of the TPP effectively killed off the 12-country pact.

Other countries involved in the TPP were Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.

Mr Turnbull played down Mr Trump’s protectionist rhetoric and said it was the President’s “sovereign right and solemn obligation” to decide whether deals were in America’s interest.

“Each nation is committed to protecting its economic interest first and foremost,” he said, adding the US had to make its own judgments.