Trump tosses out trade pact
WASHINGTON — Charting a new American course abroad, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership on Monday, using one of his first actions in office to reject a centerpiece of Barack Obama's attempts to counter China and deepen U.S. ties in Asia.
For Trump, the move was a fulfillment of a central campaign promise. He has repeatedly cast the 12-nation trade pact — which was eagerly sought by U.S. allies in Asia — as
detrimental to American businesses.
“Great thing for the American worker that we just did,” Trump said as he signed a notice in the Oval Office.
The Obama administration spent years negotiating the Pacific Rim pact, though the mood in Washington on trade soured over time. Fearing rejection, Obama never sent the accord to Congress for ratification, making Trump’s actions Monday largely symbolic.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, backed Trump.
“Throwing out TPP is the first necessary step in overhauling our trade policy to put American workers first,” the Ohio Democrat said in a statement.
Ohio’s other senator, Republican Rob Portman, generally supports trade deals but he, too, had problems with the TPP.
“We can do better, and I look forward to working with the Trump administration and engaging our allies on better trade agreements,” Portman said.
For Trump, the start of his first full week in office amounted to a reset after a tumultuous weekend dominated by his and his spokesman’s false statements about inauguration crowds and their vigorous complaints about media coverage.
Trump’s advisers privately conceded that his focus on inauguration crowds was unhelpful on the opening weekend of his presidency.
On Monday, the new president spent the day bounding from one ornate room of the White House to another for meetings, often ordering aides to summon journalists from their West Wing workspace at a moment’s notice for unscheduled statements and photo opportunities.
Trump also signed memorandums freezing most federal government hiring — though he noted an exception for the military — and reinstating a ban on providing federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option. The regulation, known as the “Mexico City Policy,” has been a political volleyball, instituted by Republican administrations and rescinded by Democrat ones since 1984.
The actions were among the long list of steps candidate Trump pledged to take on his opening day as president. But other “Day One” promises were going unfulfilled Monday, including plans to propose a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of Congress and terminating Obama’s executive actions deferring deportations for some people living in the U.S. illegally.
Spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that Trump eventually intends to follow through on his proposals. Yet he appeared to suggest that Trump might not reinstate deportations for young immigrants protected from deportation under the Obama administration.
Spicer said Trump’s focus would be on people in the U.S. illegally who have criminal records or who pose a threat.
The president’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership amounts to a drastic reversal of decades of economic policy in which presidents of both parties have lowered trade barriers and expanded ties around the world. Most analysts say the 12-nation TPP agreement, the product of years of negotiations during the previous administration, would have reduced prices and boosted sales abroad for automakers, farmers and tech companies.
But Trump vowed he could do better. Riding a tide of worries about job losses and suspicion of such sweeping agreements, the businessman plans to shun multinational deals and begin focusing on one-on-one agreements with other countries.
Aides signaled that Trump may also move quickly on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. He is scheduling meetings with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, the two main partners in that pact, first negotiated by President George H.W. Bush and pushed through Congress by President Bill Clinton. NAFTA has been a major driver of U.S. trade for nearly two decades, but critics blame it for lost jobs and lower wages.
The TPP agreement brought together the United States and 11 other nations along the Pacific Rim, including Canada, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam,
Malaysia and Australia, creating a free-trade zone for about 40 percent of the world’s economy. It was intended to lower tariffs while setting rules for resolving trade disputes, setting patents and protecting intellectual property.
Obama and his Republican allies argued that the pact would open growing foreign markets to U.S. businesses. But many Democrats said it would benefit wealthy corporations at the expense of workers and the environment.
Trump sided with them, and he beat general-election foe Hillary Clinton in crucial Midwestern industrial states such as Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin that have been hurt by changes in manufacturing.
Monday was mostly a business day for Trump. The new president, who prefers to solicit opinions from numerous people before making decisions, huddled with corporate leaders and union heads. Eager to show off his new digs, Trump ended both meetings by bringing his guests in to see the Oval Office.
In the evening, Trump was hosting a White House reception for lawmakers from both parties and a separate private meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan.