Having voiced his interest in severing an agreement tying countries including Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the US into a free-trade partnership in November last year, the newly sworn-in President has done exactly that.
According to News.com.au, President Trump signed an “executive order”, which pulls the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
As he signed the order in the White House on Monday, January 23, he said, “Everyone knows what that means, right?”
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time … It’s a great thing for the American worker.”
This comes as President Trump looks to pursue “fair trade” as opposed to free trade, claiming that “in some cases it’s impossible” for American cars to sell in Japan.
“They won’t even take your product. But when they do take your product they charge you a lot of tax.”
“I don’t call that free trade. What we want is fair trade.”
What does this mean for Australia?
While Prime Minister Turnbull and Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobi have been looking for ways to keep the TPP in tact without the US, sources who have spoken to News.com.au have said that this won’t really impact our nation.
Experts, including Macquarie University’s senior lecturer in Security Studies Adam Lockyer, believe that because Australia already hold other bilateral agreements, we shouldn’t be affected too dramatically.
Although, what this change does signal is the President’s big shift from business to politics, with reports indicating that right after this executive order, he resigned from all of his businesses.
The Trump plot thickens…
