For those of you trying to figure out where the Trump administration is going with trade policy, here are a few tidbits from Sean Spicer (the White House press secretary) at yesterday's press conference:
QUESTION: (inaudible) news. After the executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the TPP, what specific steps will President Trump take to expand U.S. trade opportunities abroad?
SPICER: Well, again, I -- I think when he talks to Prime Minister May, he's gonna have a great conversation about the potential for greater trade with the U.K. I mentioned earlier when he met with these manufacturers this morning, that was, you know, right up there at the top of that list, how can we get greater market access? What are the specific challenges that these manufacturers are facing getting market access in the countries around the globe? And that's an important issue.
So it's not -- it's not just other countries, but within existing trade deals, we can figure out is there a trade dispute that can be settled with the WTO, is there a revision to one of the existing trade treaties that we have now? But there's a lot that can be done. There are things that Congress can update to make sure that we're importing and exporting more to benefit American businesses.
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QUESTION: TPP was dead on arrival (inaudible), so why this executive order anything more than symbolic? And when will President Trump start negotiating those bilateral deals with the 11 other countries in the Asia-Pacific? Could take some time and that could be, some would say, giving China, you know, room to make an inroad.
SPICER: Well, first, I would argue that bilateral deals are mostly what China's been engaging in, and that's something that I just said that we're gonna -- you know, the president's gonna look to countries to engage with.
QUESTION: (inaudible) 11 TPP countries?
SPICER: Most of them we have existing trade agreements with -- or a good chunk of them, we have existing trade agreements to -- to being with. This was an expansion of that, and some in areas, it allowed, whether it was the service industry, financial services, additional market access.
But I think that this is -- this is not a deal that was in our country's best interest. The president could have come into office -- a president could have come into office and renegotiated it and sent people back to the drawing board. It hadn't gone to Congress yet because it wasn't finalized. I think this president pulling out of the agreement is not just about this one agreement, but I think it's symbolic both here in America and around the world of a new era of trade policy, one that's going to put American workers first and foremost and one that assures the rest of the world that the way that we negotiate bilateral agreements is going to ensure that we get something out of these deals.
As I mentioned to John a minute ago, I mean, the problem with multilateral agreements is that often, we -- it becomes the lowest common denominator on so many things. And for the U.S. (inaudible) already has low tariffs and other service industry benefits for countries, you know, we've gotta be able to make sure we're going out and fighting for the American worker.
Jennifer (ph)?
QUESTION: So (ph) you're not gonna renegotiate, to be clear...
SPICER: We pulled out of TPP.
QUESTION: No but if all the existing...
SPICER: I'm -- I'm not gonna -- there -- we'll have further updates on trade issues later this week, Jennifer (ph).
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ...does the administration feel like you still need an executive order to remove yourself from NAFTA or what's the...
SPICER: I -- I -- that's a great question. I believe there's an action that has to be taken under the -- the provision of NAFTA where you set -- you send notice to the other countries, the other two countries.
The exact nature of how that's described, I don't -- but it is, there is a trigger within NAFTA, one of the sections allows the -- the president of the United States to notify them that we intend to do that.
(CROSSTALK)
SPICER: OK hold on (inaudible).
QUESTION: Will there still be a North American trade block or something different or...
SPICER: Again, I think part of is it that he's already spoken to both the president of Mexico and prime minister of Canada about his desire to -- to renegotiate. And I think as he meets with both of these individuals over the next 30 days or so, that's gonna be a topic.
Now, if they come in and -- and express a willingness to do that, you could negotiate it within the current parameters and update it through -- through the existing structure. If they don't and he decided to -- to pull out, then we would have to go back to the drawing table in the future.
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QUESTION: ... And on TPP, Joe McCain says it was a serious mistake to do what the president did for America's economy and for our strategic position in the Asia- Pacific. Why was TPP the right thing to do?
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: -- the right thing to do, to repeal TPP?
SPICER: Oh, I think I said it, because I think the multi -- when you enter into these multinational agreements, you're allowing any country, no matter the size -- any one of those 12, including us, to basically have the same stature as the United States in the agreement. So we're basically on par with some very small companies who are getting access to an amazing market, the United States. And in return, we're negotiating at the lowest common denominator. And I think that when you look at big multinational agreements -- multilateral agreements -- they're not always in the best interest of the United States.
The beautiful thing about a bilateral agreement is that if any one of the true parties in the agreement decides at any time they want to get out of the agreement, or they're not being treated fairly, they can renegotiate much easier. In a multinational agreement, that's not the case. In many cases, all of the other countries have to agree to an action or to let somebody out. That's not putting the U.S. interest's first.
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QUESTION: Regarding -- regarding access -- access for American companies to the national markets, will the president try to improve the access to the largest market and develop the European one? By taking (inaudible)
SPICER: Well, look, I don't -- I think, he's gonna increase market access wherever he can. He's in the process of reviewing all of our current trade agreements. And looking at potential bilateral options going forward, whether it's in the E.U., or in the Asia- Pacific arena, or in the Middle East.
He's gonna figure out where we can expand U.S. market access. And that's I think, what today's decision really starts to show. Is that it's not about multilateral agreements under a Trump administration. It's about bilateral agreements, where we can figure out country to country, how can we fight for the American worker, gain them access to another market that's gonna benefit our large and small businesses who want to sell additional goods and services.
