US tariffs didn’t change China but rejoining Pacific trade pact could: Obama aide

Name: Trump orders US withdrawal from trans-Pacific trade deal
Uploaded: 2020-10-01T12:30:18.000Z
Duration: 46 s
Description: Trump orders US withdrawal from trans-Pacific trade deal

Washington’s tariff hikes have not forced China to reform, former acting deputy trade representative Wendy Cutler says in think tank report

Next president should rejoin the 11-member Asia-Pacific agreement Donald Trump withdrew from in 2017, she argues

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Wendy Cutler, the former acting deputy US trade representative, said the US could not counter China by working alone. Photo: Handout

Catherine Wong

Published: 8:30pm, 1 Oct 2020Updated: 10:58pm, 1 Oct 2020

A former US trade official is calling for the next US president to rejoin a trans-Pacific trade agreement as a means to working with like-minded countries and offering an alternative to China’s state capitalism.

Wendy Cutler, who was acting deputy US trade representative under former president Barack Obama, said the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was still the best way for the United States to redefine global trade and counter China. Her comments came in a report published on Wednesday by think tank the Asia Society Policy Institute, of which she is vice-president.

Formerly the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the CPTPP is one of the world’s largest multilateral free-trade agreements, accounting for 13.5 per cent of global GDP, and was seen by Beijing as a way for the Obama administration to contain China’s rise in the Pacific region.

The agreement was renamed after the US, under President Donald Trump, withdrew in 2017, and came into force the following year, featuring 11 Asia-Pacific countries: Japan, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

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Trump orders US withdrawal from trans-Pacific trade deal

The report contributed to by Cutler – “Re-engaging the Asia-Pacific on Trade: A TPP road map for the Next US Administration” – urges the next president to explore options for re-engaging with countries about the trade agreement.