The Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement will cost the U.S. access to markets in the Asia-Pacific and make it easier for China to advance its own vision for the region, said Michael Froman, who served as the U.S. Trade Representative under former President Barack Obama.
Froman, who led U.S. negotiators in the creation of the multilateral trade pact, said in an interview earlier this month that the nation would become less competitive in the region as other countries move ahead with their own trade agreements. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the TPP early in his administration, and has stated a preference for pursuing bilateral trade deals. Froman characterized the move as a retreat of U.S. leadership in the Asia-Pacific region.
"I think the Trump administration has put the thumb on the scale in terms of a China-centric Asia-Pacific," he said. That's "not in the interest of an open, free and rules-based global trading system."