US Trade Deal’s Setback Causes Mixed Reaction in Asia

President Barack Obama so far has failed to convince members of his own party in Congress that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement negotiated among 12 nations, could benefit US consumers and workers. Rejection by the House of Representatives came soon after China launched “One Belt, One Road” and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank to boost Asian trade among many more nations. The US and Japan declined to join. “[T]he TPP has been viewed as a way to counter a rising China,” reports the Washington Post. “For the United States, it was a way to project influence in Asia; for Japan, it was a way to regain some of the economic might it has lost as China has gained.” Analysts disagree whether the China-led initiatives and TPP are in competition. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had hoped the TPP would assist with economic structural reforms for Japan; although China is not a negotiating member, moderates in that country view TTP as a path to market reforms, too. South Korea would like to join TTP and anticipates that delays could create an opening. Obama’s Republican opponents support TPP, and special deals on aid for US workers could revive Obama’s fast-track authority to approve the trade deal. – YaleGlobal