The prime minister also was hoping to spur Japan’s moribund economy with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, now a defunct trade pact. Negotiated by the Obama administration, it failed to win support in Congress last year.
Trump has called the 12-country trade deal “a rape of our country” and the “worst danger yet,” a sentiment shared by a large number of congressional Republicans.
The failure of TPP leaves many U.S. exporters uncertain about whether elements of the deal will be revived in bilateral agreements with the TPP countries.
In the meantime, China and 15 other Asian countries are moving ahead with a separate trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which includes a larger volume of regional trade. If enacted, the agreement would create an economic bloc with a combined population of 3.4 billion and trade volume of $10.6 billion, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the world’s trade, according to South Korea’s Trade Ministry.
The U.S. is not part of RCEP, which could leave many U.S. exporters at a disadvantage when competing against Asian exporters in the region.
West Coast states, which rely most heavily on Asian markets, could be especially vulnerable.
