31st January, 2017
French Finance Minister Michel Sapin on Tuesday said U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration posed a grave risk to international trade.
Sapin told an audience of international economists gathered at the French finance ministry in Paris, noting Europe will have to stand up to him to prevent the collapse of global economic institutions.
“Our American partner appears to want to take unilaterally protectionist decisions which could destabilise the whole world economy.
“Decisions by the new U.S. administration are posing a grave risk to the world trade order.
“Neither France nor Europe can watch helplessly as our economic institutions risk being dislocated,’’ Sapin added.
On Jan. 24, Trump, signed an executive order formally withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, following through on a promise from his presidential campaign.
The TPP accord was negotiated by former President Barack Obama’s administration but never approved by US Congress.
Signed by 12 countries in 2015, the agreement had yet to go into effect and the US’s withdrawal is likely to sound its death knell.
It had been the main economic pillar of the Obama administration’s “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific region to counter China.
Its signatories are Australia, Vietnam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Brunei. They together represent 40 percent of the world economy.