The Obama administration has suspended efforts to win approval from the US Congress for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, reports suggest, and it’s up to the Trump administration to kill or shape the 12-nation deal. With TPP on life support, China promotes two other trade agreements for the region, either of which could exclude the United States and reduce its competitiveness in the Asia Pacific region. “In threatening to sabotage the Trans-Pacific Partnership by opposing US ratification of the 12-nation pact, Trump is, in effect, stepping aside to allow China to control trade and investment in the Asia Pacific region,” explains journalist and author Anthony Rowley. Japan, the world’s third largest economy and a close US ally, is not so ready to give up on TPP and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with the US president-elect. Rowley cautions that the US president-elect’s promises to upend foreign policy commitments already influence decisions being made throughout East Asia and other countries will step into the void.
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/us-walks-away-tpp-and-leaves-door-open-china?utm_source=YaleGlobal+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7c66b7fd0d-Newsletter9_14_2010&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2c91bd5e92-7c66b7fd0d-207760089
