On his first full day in office, US President Donald Trump signed three executive orders, the first of which pulls the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is a free trade deal that spans 12 countries across the Pacific, with a total population of 800 million people and 40% of the world’s GDP.
The deal was signed by President Obama, but never ratified by Congress, so withdrawing from the TPP will not have an immediate effect upon the American economy. Trump argued during his campaign that signing the TPP would lead to more US jobs relocating overseas. After President Trump signed the order, he said to journalists in the Oval Office: “Great thing for the American worker, what we just did.”
“When you look at big multi-national agreements, they’re not always in the best interest of the United States, ” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer in regards to the TPP. Spicer noted the difficulty of withdrawing from or changing multi-lateral agreements as opposed to bilateral agreements, adding: “that’s not putting the US interest first.”
Trump signed two other executive orders, one freezing hiring of government employees, except for the military and the other re-implementing the “Mexico City” policy banning the US government from funding foreign NGOs that promote or partake in abortion services. This policy was originally put in place by former President Ronald Regan, but has been canceled and reinstated by various presidents over the years.
