One of Donald Trump’s first acts as president was to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-nation free-trade deal that President Obama negotiated but left unfinished.
Trump derided the pact as a bad deal for America. But leaving it hasn’t turned out that well either.
The remaining 11 members proceeded anyway, slashing tariffs and leaving U.S. businesses at a significant competitive disadvantage. In particular, American exports of grains, meats and other farm goods to Japan — by far the biggest of those 11 economies — have taken a hit.
Now the White House is scrambling to undo the damage of Trump’s swift withdrawal from what would have been the world’s largest regional trade agreement.
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