Ever since the end of the second world war, the US has been the main anchor for the liberal international trading system. Its policy agenda, including non-liberalising measures such as tightening intellectual property rights, has frequently been controversial. But there are few major initiatives in trade policy that do not have the US playing a central role.
This tradition is under threat from Donald Trump’s administration, which has abrogated the US’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a signed (but not yet ratified) deal with 11 other Asia-Pacific economies. His officials, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, have stated instead their preference for one-on-one deals, where the US can address its misguided ambition to use trade policy to reduce bilateral current account deficits.
The initial reaction in the other TPP countries to the US’s withdrawal was one of shock and disappointment. Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, said the agreement would be “meaningless” without US participation. But now Japan, the second-largest economy in the pact, has changed its mind and suggested the other TPP nations go ahead without the US.