U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty asserts that U.S. President Donald Trump “did a great favor” to other signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership by withdrawing the United States from the agreement so that those other countries could ratify it promptly rather than wait years for the U.S. Congress to do so (“Trump said upset by lack of Japan trade deal,” June 14).
This comment is both disingenuous and deeply cynical. Republican control of the U.S. Senate and the party’s historic commitment to free trade mean that the basis of Hagerty’s assertion is almost certainly false.
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