Trump withdraws from TPP trade deal

President Donald Trump has fulfilled a campaign pledge by signing an executive order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The 12-nation trade deal was a linchpin of former President Barack Obama's Asia policy.
"Great thing for the American worker what we just did," said Mr Trump as he dumped the pact with a stroke of a pen.
He also cut funding for international groups that provide abortions, and froze hiring of some federal workers.
Mr Trump's executive order on TPP was largely symbolic since the deal has not been ratified by a divided US Congress.
During his presidential campaign, he criticised the accord as a "potential disaster for our country", arguing it harmed US manufacturing.
On Monday evening, his pick to be secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations committee, and now requires confirmation from the full Senate.

What is the TPP?

• The trade deal, which covered 40% of the world's economy, was negotiated in 2015 by nations including the US, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico
• TPP's stated aim was to strengthen economic ties and boost growth, including by reducing tariffs
• It included measures to enforce labour and environmental standards, copyrights, patents and other legal protections
• The agreement, backed heavily by US business, was designed to potentially create a new single market likened to the EU
• Critics argued it was a not-so-secret gambit to box in China, which is not part of the agreement

The Trump administration's first weekday began with a flurry of executive orders, which allow the president to bypass Congress by issuing legally binding directions, mostly of limited scope, to federal agencies.
Mr Trump also signed an order blocking foreign aid or federal funding for any nongovernmental organisation that provides abortions abroad.
The so-called Mexico City policy was first established by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
It is typically rescinded by incoming Democratic presidents, including Barack Obama in 2009, and reinstated by Republican presidents.

Source: BBC