US to quit TPP on 1st day in office: Trump

Risingbd Desk: Donald Trump has said he will pull America out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal the day he takes office, in a major policy announcement.

The US president-elect had been clear during his election campaign about his opposition to the trade deal, President Barack Obama`s signature trade initiative, which was signed by 12 countries in February and covers 40 per cent of the world`s economy.

But in a first direct address to the country about what his policy priorities would be in his first 100 days, Mr Trump said he would immediately cancel the partnership, describing it as a "potential disaster for our country".

In a video released on YouTube, the Republican said his agenda would be based on "putting America first".

"I`ve asked my transition team to develop a list of executive actions we can take on day one to restore our laws and bring back our jobs," Mr Trump said.

"On trade, I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership," he said.

"Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores."

The TPP, which has not been ratified by the Republican-dominated US Congress, aims to create a free trade zone with common labour and environmental standards, and measures to protect data and intellectual property of large companies.

It was agreed after nearly a decade of international talks between Washington and its international partners and is the most significant free trade deal since the US signed North America Free Trade Agreement in 1994.

The 12 countries that signed the deal in February are Japan, the US, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, who was the first world leader to meet Mr Trump after his election victory, said last night the TPP "would be meaningless without the United States".

Mr Trump`s pledge on the TPP was one of six policy points that he vowed to act on as soon as he takes office on January 20.

"On energy, I will cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy - including shale energy and clean coal - creating many millions of high-paying jobs. That`s what we want, that`s what we`ve been waiting for," he said.

"On regulation, I will formulate a rule which says that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated, it`s so important."

His other pledges included developing a "comprehensive plan" to guard against cyber attacks and launch a drive to investigate "all abuses of visa programmes that undercut the American worker".

Finally, as part of his promise to "drain the swamp", Mr Trump vowed "to impose a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists after they leave the administration - and a lifetime ban on executive officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government."

Source: Agencies

risingbd/DHAKA/Nov 22, 2016/Amirul