U.S. Allies to Sign Sweeping Trade Deal in Challenge to Trump
U.S. Allies to Sign Sweeping Trade Deal in Challenge to Trump
“And that stability does not appear to be coming from the United States, where policy seems to shift at a moment’s notice.”
Japan, which has the largest economy among the remaining trade partners and played a leadership role in keeping the coalition of 11 countries together, is still holding out hopes
that the United States might return to the pact, under either Mr. Trump or a subsequent administration.
The new agreement — known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership — will drop tariffs drastically and establish sweeping new trade rules in markets
that represent about a seventh of the world’s economy.
“It’s hard to ignore rules that everyone else is agreeing to,
and they will probably look carefully at these rules,” said Wendy Cutler, a former United States trade negotiator who worked on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and is now managing director of the Washington office of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
A group of 11 nations — including major United States allies like Japan, Canada and Australia — is set to sign a broad trade deal on Thursday
that challenges Mr. Trump’s view of trade as a zero-sum game filled with winners and losers.
By MOTOKO RICH and ERNESTO LONDOÑOMARCH 8, 2018
TOKYO — A trade pact originally conceived by the United States to counter China’s growing
economic might in Asia now has a new target: President Trump’s embrace of protectionism.
“And that stability does not appear to be coming from the United States, where policy seems to shift at a moment’s notice.”
Japan, which has the largest economy among the remaining trade partners and played a leadership role in keeping the coalition of 11 countries together, is still holding out hopes
that the United States might return to the pact, under either Mr. Trump or a subsequent administration.
The new agreement — known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership — will drop tariffs drastically and establish sweeping new trade rules in markets
that represent about a seventh of the world’s economy.
“It’s hard to ignore rules that everyone else is agreeing to,
and they will probably look carefully at these rules,” said Wendy Cutler, a former United States trade negotiator who worked on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and is now managing director of the Washington office of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
A group of 11 nations — including major United States allies like Japan, Canada and Australia — is set to sign a broad trade deal on Thursday
that challenges Mr. Trump’s view of trade as a zero-sum game filled with winners and losers.
By MOTOKO RICH and ERNESTO LONDOÑOMARCH 8, 2018
TOKYO — A trade pact originally conceived by the United States to counter China’s growing
economic might in Asia now has a new target: President Trump’s embrace of protectionism.