Duterte takes swipe at US call to retreat from free trade

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday took a swipe at the Trump administration’s retreat from a major free trade deal, joining Asian nations at a forum this week in criticizing rising protectionism.

Until recently China and the US were both pushing sweeping free trade deals that excluded each other.

But shortly after taking offi ce in January, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Trans- Pacifi c Partnership ( TPP) which he described as a “job killer.”

The move delivered a hammer blow to the 11 other nations who spent seven years negotiating what was billed as the world’s largest trade deal.

During a speech celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) in Manila, Duterte gave his backing to a planned trade pact backed by China known as the Regional Comprehensive Eco- nomic Partnership ( RCEP).

“ASEAN has a bigger stake than any part of the world in standing up against protectionism and securing the rules of the game in the international trade,” he told delegates.

RCEP, he said, “will provide further impetus to our eff orts,” adding he hoped negotiations on the Beijing- led deal “should conclude swiftly.”

He then added a jab over TPP’s collapse.

“[ I’m] reminded that the Trans pacific, it was a dream, is no longer there,” he said.

Before Trump’s withdrawal, TPP would have covered 40 percent of the global economy.

It went further than most existing free trade pacts, with labor laws, environmental protections and intellectual property rights touted by backers as a new gold standard for global trade.