US President Trump signs memo to leave TPP trade pact

WASHINGTON, DC. (NEWS 1130) – 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 per cent 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 US factory jobs.

President Trump has tasked a group of top business leaders with coming up with a series of actions to help stimulate the American manufacturing sector. Andrew Liveris, the CEO of Dow Chemical, says Trump has given them 30 days to come up a plan.

This morning the president met with a group of top manufacturing leaders, including Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX, and the executives from Dell, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, among others. Mark Fields of the Ford Motor Company says he left the meeting confident Trump will work to create jobs.

Trump is also vowing to cut taxes on his first official business day in office. He told a business crowd he wants to lower taxes for the middle class and for companies to “anywhere from 15 to 25 per cent,” down from 35 per cent.

He told the business leaders the deal is contingent upon keeping business operations inside the United States: “All you have to do is stay. Don’t leave. Don’t fire your people in the United States.”

The president also claims there will be “advantages” to companies that make their products in the United States and suggested he will impose a “substantial border tax” on foreign goods entering the country. The president also repeated a campaign promise to cut regulations “by 75 per cent, maybe more.”

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