Donald Trump Vows to Cancel the (TPP) Transpacific Partnership within the First Day in Office

Donald Trump has said he plans to begin pulling out of the 12-country Pacific trade deal championed by the Obama administration on his first day in office, sparking concern in Asia that the president-elect will turn his back on allies as China asserts economic might in the region.



In a video outlining steps he would take on January 20, Mr Trump said he would follow through on his campaign promise to walk away from the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership that took seven years to negotiate.



“I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country,” Mr Trump said in the video released on Monday evening. “Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back on to American shores.”



Some Asian signatories had expressed hope they could move forward with the pact — which excludes China but includes close US allies such as Japan, Canada and Australia — without Washington.



But Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, poured cold water on such ambitions, saying TPP “has no meaning” without the largest participant.



Speaking at a news conference in Buenos Aires, Mr Abe said renegotiating an 11-member deal was impossible, arguing that US absence “destroys the basic balance of gains” from the deal.