American small businesses will also feel the pain, Okun explained.
Many U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises depend on the exports of goods and services to Asia. They will likely become less competitive as a result of exclusion from the new TPP, which seeks to facilitate easier access to regional supply chains for SMEs.
The picture is a little brighter for larger U.S. companies already in the region, Okun noted: “They may be able to fit into TPP-11 like Japanese companies can fit into NAFTA.”
The new TPP deal, which still needs to be finalized, could suspend around 20 provisions from the original agreement, Reuters reported. Many of those are related to intellectual property, one of the pact’s more controversial areas.
The U.S. president doesn’t think TPP is good for America “but many of us don’t agree with that,”
Malaysian trade minister Mustapa Mohamed told CNBC on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic summit.
“The fact that TPP 11 has come together indicates that there is a place for multilateralism,” he continued. “We hope that corporate America, in particular, will continue to use their influence to persuade their administration to come on-board.”
