What Trump didn’t say about the Trans-Pacific Partnership

OPINION: US President Donald Trump kept one of his major campaign promises last week when he withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The ramifications of Trump’s decision are worrisome and, whether or not the withdrawal helps American workers, it would be helpful to US standing in the region if he communicated better, and to a larger audience, exactly what he’s trying to do.

I have lived and worked in Asia for 25 years. Feelings of uncertainty about the US right now are palpable. People want to know what’s going on.

Trump was seated at his desk in the Oval Office on his first weekday as president. Behind him were Vice President Mike Pence and an entourage of advisors including Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus and Peter Navarro.

Priebus, a leather folio in hand, stepped forward. ‘‘OK, we’re going to sign three memorandums right now. The first one is the withdrawal of the United States from the Trans- Pacific Partnership.’’

Trump reached for his pen as Priebus handed him the portfolio. He gave it the Chief Executive once-over, cocked his head, looked at the reporters in front of him, and jutted his jaw toward them slightly.

‘‘Everyone knows what that means, right? We’ve been talking about this for a long time, thank you.’’ He signed it. ‘‘OK.’’ He held it up for the cameras - I’d hold it up too if I had a fabulous signature like his - and concluded, ‘‘Great

Some of the United States' closest allies - Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand - are in the TPP, and all the others are friends.

thing for the American worker, what we just did.’’ That was it. Problem is, nobody really does know what that means. Besides calling it ‘‘the death blow for American manufacturing’’ he hasn’t said much about what he else has in store now that the US is out. And while there’s a lot of merit in the president’s seeming willingness to let Beijing do a little guesswork for a change, there’s not much merit in letting the other 11 countries in the TPP do the same. Some of the United States’ closest allies - Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand - are in the TPP, and all the others are friends.

Even if one agrees with Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the TPP, there’s a lot of work to be done between now and the ‘‘great thing’’ arriving.

Economists and the media have been insisting that jobs sent abroad aren’t coming home and, even if they did, robots would be doing most of them. There’s some truth in this. But I’d never bet against American business.

As a retired private equity friend said to me recently, after complaining about his industry brethren who buy domestic businesses to send abroad to cash in on cheap labour, ‘‘We have to make stuff here.’’ He didn’t mean everything and he didn’t mean all of it, but the hollowing out of the US manufacturing base so the private equity guys and their banker friends can get rich was never a good thing for the country.

China might be able to make the world’s steel at the lowest cost, for example, but what government would cede this strategic industry to Beijing? If the right policies emerge from Washington as the Trump team fleshes out its trade and related policies - which can’t be simply increasing tariffs to keep the competition less competitive expect American business to rise to the challenge. But they need to know what those policies are uncertainty freezes business - and American allies and friends around the world do, too.

Here’s what Trump should have said.

‘‘Before I sign this, I’d like to say a few words. We recognise that our allies and close friends, with whom the last administration worked on the pact, are disappointed by our withdrawal from the TPP. International treaties like the TPP require ratification by our government, and we are not moving forward in no small part because the American people don’t like the TPP, and we can’t - I can’t - go ahead. It’s worth noting that my opponent was also against the TPP.

‘‘We are not abandoning the Pacific region. From Japan to Australia, to Chile, to Canada, and stops in between, we value our relations with all the TPP countries and will continue to expand our trade with them all. Making America great again does not, in any way, come at the expense of our friends and does not, in any way, mean backing away from our long-term commitments and friendships. The TPP doesn’t exist now, so trade tomorrow will be the same as trade today.

‘‘As I said many times, we like trade and are happy to trade, even with China. We just want the trade to be fair.’’

That’s not a tweet, but it’s the message America’s allies and friends would like to hear directly from Trump. - Reuters

Robert Boxwell is director of Opera Advisors, a management consulting firm based in Kuala Lumpur. The opinions expressed are his own.