Trump Signs Order To Leave Trans-Pacific Partnership
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is signing a memorandum to leave the proposed Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The move is basically a formality, since the agreement had yet to receive required Senate ratification. Trade experts say that approval was unlikely to happen given voters' anxiety about trade deals and the potential for job losses.
Trump called the move "a great thing for the American workers"
It remains unclear if Trump would seek individual deals with the 11 other nations in TPP-- a group that represents roughly 13.5 percent of the global economy, according to World Bank figures.
Trump has blamed past trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and China's entrance into the World Trade Organization for a decline in U.S. factory jobs.
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