GUIDANCE

Why the White House Might Revisit the TPP

Apr 16, 2018 | 18:07 GMT

Strategic considerations surrounding China may be driving President Donald Trump's change of heart on U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

U.S. President Donald Trump waves to the crowd after an event to honor the 2017 NCAA Football National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide, at the White House, on April 10, 2018 in Washington, D.C. Alabama beat the Clemson Tigers 35-31 to capture the championship.

(MARK WILSON/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • The United States cannot achieve its goal of countering China's rising economic influence and strength unilaterally.
  • The Trump administration's re-examination of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) reflects the necessity of a multilateral approach.
  • But the likelihood of a U.S. return to the trade pact remains low in the near future, since the White House would demand significant changes to the agreement.

Has the White House shifted its trade policy? U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, announced April 12 that President Donald Trump had directed his two top officials - new National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer – to explore rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). One of Trump's first moves on taking office in January 2017 was to pull out of the trade deal, which his predecessor, Barack Obama, had agreed to. Trump first floated the possibility of rejoining the TPP and renegotiating the pact in January as the deal's remaining 11 members – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam – which had continued negotiations without the United States, were putting the finishing touches on a new agreement, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). (They signed the CPTPP in March.) Trump's...

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