(Opinion) The Rise of Trump and Its Global Implications – Aborting TPP: Will US Global Leadership Be Crippled?
2016-11-24 09:12:54 source：RSIS
November 23, 2016
"Synopsis
Apart from facilitating global trade between US and its Asia-Pacific partners, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) also seeks to promote better governance and human security. However the declared US intention to abort the TPP has shifted the ground for globalisation and moved key players to look inwards and prioritise national objectives over their commitment to multilateral cooperative frameworks.
Commentary
THE TRANS-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is not simply a trade agreement among 12 Asia-Pacific countries. It is a strategic arrangement using free trade as an anchor. It was signed on 4 February 2016 in New Zealand after seven years of hard negotiations. The TPP originated from the P4 free trade regime set up by Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. The US seized upon this P4 pact to erect an economic edifice to complement the American security umbrella in the region.
The underlying assumption is that as a wide -ranging partnership, the TPP would serve as a counterweight to the ambition of a rising China. At the same time, the TPP could help open exclusive sectors in places like Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia where protectionism, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and ethnic-based affirmative action have restricted US commercial penetration. The bait was the lucrative US market. Consequently, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Vietnam joined the P4 countries and the US. The TPP agreement has 30 chapters which cover issues far beyond a typical free trade agreement including, the environment, labour standards and SOEs."
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