Trump withdraws from Trans-Pacific Partnership amid flurry of orders

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/23/donald-trump-first-orders-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp

One of the few campaign promises I fully agreed with. Glad he kept it and I believe this will be the death knell of this globalization pact. I'll be curious to see if one springs up around the US with the other signatories.

There were a few things he signed but I figure each issue can have it's own thread.

 

I was wondering if this issue would get posted. I started to do it but with the number of Trump hating threads I was curious if anyone else would do it.

I agree with the OP. This is a good thing. Trump is not against free trade as long as it is fair trade. TPP would have been a big mistake. I am also glad to see Trump mention renegotiating NAFTA.

 

He gave the Chinese exactly what they wanted in a silver platter without them even having to ask,'

When Trump continued signalling this idiotic intent, they ramped up their efforts to build a free trade block in the Pacific region, one that would be dominated by China and Chinese banks.

Now the US has quit the field,

 

If the only way we could participate was allowing foreign nations to sue the United States, to quote Hillary Clinton: It did not meet(our) standards. Who cares if China can now predominate that field. It doesn't exclude us from trading with nations in the bloc. It just means we won't trade under those terms.

 

Trying to control China this way is stupid. Deal with them directly instead of being a wussy.

 

Why do people seem to have such a hard time realizing this?

This is a very good thing. As you say, TPP would have been a big mistake.

Exactly. Large economies deserve to be dealt with one on one. For China, we should make it very clear that everything will be looked at in the relationship, including the theft of intellectual property, the hacking of our government and businesses, the aggressive posture in the South China Sea, etc. etc.

 

I thought he was snuggling up to Putin?

 

I think the issue is from the point Trump has continued to suggest not trading internationally. Something that continues to be highlighted by,

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...mp-first-orders-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp
I often wonder about such comments, but the truth is Trump wishes to lock America up. If you want to compare America with the rest of the world the one thing you have to understand, by closing off cheaper markets to your people you increase the cost of their standard of living. We could go through and discuss the economics of it all but to choke your own nations industry back to compete on your own home terms is one thing, but if that level is higher than the nations you wish to trade with, then your industry suffocates under oppressive regulation and cost. Since you industry has no real competition it gets to name its own prices and works to recover losses from the cheaper alternatives they were previously using by charging the people.

This is the very problem, the rich do not know or care about the poor. They have no idea how hard the less of the nation have to work just to survive. It is simply believed they can get a job, bit hard when they already have one…

Not sure it is such a great thing but the world existed without it, and I suggest it will continue. I seriously wonder what was in the TPP that was detrimental but hey, no issue now.

I would have thought all that was already apparent, of course you do know what a trade agreement is, don’t you???

 

Do you imagine this means they're just going to refuse to trade with the US now?

This deal was bad for America, even Hillary knew that - and that's saying something.

The only thing it was good for was the globalist agenda and the elitist that benefit by dipping their finger in the river of globalism.

 

Well. Since we hadn't joined it, he didn't really withdraw from it.

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Well. Since we hadn't joined it, he didn't really withdraw from it.

 

China has done a lot for the poorer segment of the US populating by making previously unaffordable goods less costly. Why shouldn't they have more power in Asia? It's more their turf than ours.

 

"That's one small step for American jobs, one giant leap for making America great again."

 

Nonsense. We still want trade in the Pacific, we just aren't going to drop our shorts to get a deal. As for our trading partners preferring Chines Banks and Paper to American ones....


Trump's new order: Institute a new rule that for every one new regulation put in place, two old ones should be eliminated.

 

Dumb. Free trade raises world incomes. We've known this since Adam Smith and David Ricardo laid it out for us 200 years ago. The TPP, on net, increased free trade.

#MakeAmericaPoorAgain

 

Nations have been sueing other nations in international tribunals over trade issues for about 75 years now.

But since you don't see any harm in US business interests being at the disadvantage in a region that will come to be dominated by China, I guess it must be OK.

 

When the only argument you have is a cartoon............

 

That's an odd thing to say.

Since the end of WWII, the United States has regarded the entire world outside the Soviet empire and China as it's territory. I seem to recall us being involved in some business in Korea and Viet Nam......

The Chinese want the same economic hegemony that Japan craved when it labelled the region the "Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere" and used that as justification for Imperial conquest.

The Chinese will do it with banks and foreign aid, as they have been doing in Africa and the Arab world for some time. They give better terms than we do, and the clients don't have to put up with a bunch of self righteous posturing, either.

Lower priced good have benefitted everyone. Making a standard of living much more affordable for Americans who haven't gained from tax cuts for the rich, and raising the standard of living of everyone else.

As China's standard of living rises, it too will want to export the low skill manufacturing jobs to other nations who will supply their industries, as we have done.

Meanwhile, the Trump team, with it's backward false nostalgia world view, proposes that the way to fight back is build walls, cut off the world, and bring back these low skill jobs. Never mind that low skill means low pay, and Trump does not believe in even the minimum wage.

Trade walls will significantly raise the price of consumer goods in the US, while not bringing high paying jobs to the rust belt. I fully expect that in a world of 35% US tarriffs, that the well to do will get on airplanes and fly to London, Soeul and Tokyo to bargain shop, just as Europeans have been doing for years in reverse.

Once again, the regular guy will get left behind. And they voted against their own interests into the bargain

Nothing illustrates that more clearly for me than an interview I heard on POTUS on Inauguration day when a Washington Post reporter was asking people in the crowd what they though of Trump's speech. One woman, from Spartanburg, SC said this, "It's a Trump speech" and then added, "I hope he keeps on giving it!"

That made me think. What's the biggest new investment in the Spartanburg/Greenville area in recent years?

BMW (and it's associated suppliers)...........the company that Donald Trump had threatened just the week before.

Again, without the TPP, the Chinese will give better terms and have an open market for the low skill componants for Chinese branded products. Since their consumer market is already as large as ours, and has plenty of room to grow.

All in all, Trump's world view is narrow minded and backwards.

Undermining the TPP has been a primary Chinese economic and foreign policy goal for the last two years. Trump handed it to them on a plate.

And this move rewards China tremendously, by signalling to the world that the US is quitting the field of world leadership.

And China didn't even have to ask.

 

Fortuanetly, we now have a President who can use free trade & fair trade in same sentence. Get use to it.

 

Fantastic move on Trump's part.

 

Trump Wins The Unions: Teamsters Praise TPP Withdrawal, Labor Chiefs Describe "Incredible" Meeting With Trump

The following is a statement from Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa on President Donald Trump signing an executive order to formally withdraw the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership.

“Today, President Trump made good on his campaign promise to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. With this decision, the president has taken the first step toward fixing 30 years of bad trade policies that have cost working Americans millions of good-paying jobs.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-...thdrawal-describe-meeting-president-incredibl

 

Anything that unions believe is a good thing is not good for the country. Now wait for the wage demands and strikes. Unions crippled the UK in the 1970's and early 80's

 

Then let them through the normal proceedings. And a market without America will soon be a very starved market. I don't think those asian nations are happy that America dropped out. So you'll be seeing them approach us as an individual consumer and wanting to be a part of the American market.

Again, this is an action that even Hillary would have taken. This, coming from ms. open borders herself. That shows you how terrible it is.

 

Stop. There's no shortage of jobs. We are ALL (those of us who currently have jobs - ie most of us) going to be less well off because of these policies. Thanks trump!

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How were we dropping our shorts?

 

Now THATS the trump we elected,
geturdone

 

But even more notable, was the dramatic pivot by the US labor unions, historically stalwart democrat supporters, who have suddenly emerged as big supporters of Trump policies, and perhaps no one more so than AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka who said TPP withdrawal is "a good first step toward building trade policies that benefit workers."

As a reminder, nearly all major unions endorsed Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton, during the presidential election campaign: they now appear to be shifting their allegiance.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-...thdrawal-describe-meeting-president-incredibl