Trump’s TPP withdrawal ‘unfortunate’ – FedEx CEO

US President Donald Trump should reconsider his positions on international trade and work to embrace China and its vast market, FedEx Corp.’s chief executive officer said on Tuesday, one day after Trump made good on a campaign promise to pull out of a major trade deal with Asian allies.

CEO Fred Smith, in separate media appearances on Tuesday, questioned Trump’s decision to formally withdraw from the Trans- Pacific Partnership. The package and business services company employs thousands of people whose jobs depend on international trade.

“The United States being cut off from trade would be like trying to breathe without oxygen,” Smith said in an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.

Trump’s protectionist tone boosted his popularity with white, working class voters during the election, who helped him win some traditionally Democratic areas even as his words put him at odds with Republican orthodoxy on free trade.

Smith on Tuesday argued that some 40 million Americans have jobs as a result of trade, whose benefits are more “diffuse” and harder to see than the “pain” in areas like manufacturing.

“It’s an essential part of our economy. I think the decision to pull out of TPP is unfortunate because the real beneficiary of that is China. And China has been very mercantilist, very protectionist,” Smith said.

“We need to try to stop those things and get the Chinese to open up their 1.3 billion person market, not cut them off. We have the opportunity to sell huge amounts of goods into China.”

Smith’s criticisms risk placing him in the president’s crosshairs as Trump has shown a willingness to rip into companies or individuals who displease him.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump pushes back,” said Republican strategist David Carney. “Trump’s a new sheriff in town. The niceties of diplomacy and international trade... it’s just not the Trump way.”

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order to formally withdraw from the TPP as China’s influence in the region grows. The Republican president has been critical of China, which was not a party to the TPP.

Trump also said he would renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement at an “appropriate time,” following another campaign pledge to redo the NAFTA trade pact with Canada and Mexico.