10/17/2018

CANADA/CHINA/MEXICO/SOUTH KOREA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Fresh off securing trade agreements with South Korea, Canada and Mexico, President Trump is embarking on a new plan: refashioning the Trans-Pacific Partnership to his liking through a flurry of bilateral trade deals. Mr. Trump, who pulled the United States out of the trade pact with 11 other countries that he has called a ‘rape of our country,’ is now looking to forge deeper trade ties with several of the nations in the alliance, as well as the European Union and the United Kingdom. But while the Trans-Pacific Partnership was aimed at encouraging China to make the extensive economic and structural overhauls that would someday win it a place in the trade pact, Mr. Trump views these new bilateral agreements as a way to contain Beijing’s growing economic, geopolitical and territorial ambitions. The White House gave formal notification to Congress this week that it would begin trade talks with Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom. And the administration also has its sights on free trade agreements with the Philippines and Vietnam, as part of its effort to fence in China with agreements in its backyard.”

Alan Rappeport and Keith Bradsher, “ump Embarks on Bilateral Trade Talks to Pressure China,” The New York Times online, October 17, 2018