The new U.S. president made good on one of his campaign promises Monday, formally withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal negotiated by his predecessor but never ratified.
Donald Trump signed an executive order to pull out of TPP a little before noon ET, calling the move “great news for American workers.”
Trump signs order to pull out of TPP1:21
The 12-nation trade deal had been a target of his wrath on the campaign trail.
Prominent Republican — and frequent Trump critic — Senator John McCain of Arizona was quick to criticize the decision, releasing a statement calling it a “serious mistake.”
“This decision will forfeit the opportunity to promote American exports, reduce trade barriers, open new markets and protect American invention and innovation,” McCain said. “It will create an opening for China to rewrite the economic rules of the road.”
On the other side of the political aisle, Vermont Senator and erstwhile presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cautiously welcomed the move.
“I am glad the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead and gone. For the last 30 years, we have had a series of trade deals — including the North American Free Trade Agreement … which have cost us millions of decent-paying jobs and caused a ‘race to the bottom,’ which has lowered wages for American workers,” Sanders said.
“Now is the time to develop a new trade policy that helps working families, not just multi-national corporations. If President Trump is serious about a new policy to help American workers then I would be delighted to work with him.”
No mention of NAFTA
Reports Monday suggested the Trump administration would also sign an order to formally attempt to renegotiate NAFTA, but no such document was included in a series of executive orders done in front of assembled media on Monday morning.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is expected to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of his cabinet on Tuesday while the ministers are on a retreat in Alberta. Trade deals are expected to be front and centre in those discussions.
An adviser to the Trump White House said Monday that there’s a “very low risk” of Canada suffering any “collateral damage” in any NAFTA discussions.
At last count, 38 U.S. states counted Canada as their largest trading partner, and those states won’t want to see the border thicken in either direction.
Nations with which the U.S. has a trade deficit will be more of an area of focus, said Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, head of a group of business leaders who are advising Trump on economic matters.