by WorldTribune Staff, November 22, 2016

One of Donald Trump’s first acts as president will be to withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the president-elect said in an announcement made directly to the public.

“Today, I would like to provide the American people with an update on the White House transition and our policy plans for the first 100 days,” Trump said in a video released on Nov. 21.

Trump said that, contrary to many reports by major media, his transition team “is working very smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. Truly great and talented men and women, patriots indeed are being brought in and many will soon be a part of our government, helping us to Make America Great Again.

“My agenda will be based on a simple core principle: putting America First. Whether it’s producing steel, building cars, or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, in our great homeland: America – creating wealth and jobs for American workers.”

Trump said his plan for the first 100 days of his administration also includes:

• “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.
• “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.
• “On national security, I will ask the Department of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a comprehensive plan to protect America’s vital infrastructure from cyberattacks, and all other form of attacks.
• “On immigration, I will direct the Department of Labor to investigate all abuses of visa programs that undercut the American worker.
• “On ethics reform, as part of our plan to Drain the Swamp, we will 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.”

On trade, Trump said: “I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country. Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores.”

Trump’s declaration appeared to extinguish any hopes for the TPP, a signature trade initiative of President Barack Obama.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said “the TPP would be meaningless without the United States,” even as Japan’s parliament continued debating ratification and his government vowed to lobby other members to approve it.

Even without U.S. ratification, the TPP won’t die, a senior Japanese official said. “It just continues in a state of not being in effect,” said Shinpei Sasaki of the Cabinet Office’s TPP headquarters. “In the future if the United States takes the procedures and it passes Congress, that would satisfy the provisions and the TPP would go into effect.”

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