The Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP) is a free-trade agreement created as an extension of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership which contained Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore. More well-known free-trade agreement examples are NAFTA and USMCA. In a free trade agreement, parties are usually not able to tariff, tax, or discriminate against the other agreeing parties. Parties are usually required to follow specific rules, regulations, and laws involving their economic trade and internal legal system in regard to matters such as copyright and labor protections. Proponents of free trade agreements often argue they cause economic growth and expand a country’s environmental and labor protections to other countries which may have worse or no protections. Opponents often argue that jobs are lost and companies will exploit cheaper labor supply to benefit from the new low trade taxes, contributing to wealth inequality.

Benefits and Goals of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

The Trans-Pacific Partnership was a major part of Barack Obama’s foreign and economic policy. Two main benefits include:

Growth in middle-class jobs and therefore the United States economy: Most US economic growth has come from international trade in the past decade and Asia’s importance and share of the world economy is predicted to continue growing. In addition, the deal included stronger environmental regulations, protection of American companies from discrimination, and stronger union and labor protections. Obama saw these benefits and protections as a major boost to the United States economy by making trade an equal playing field. This equal playing field was supposed to emerge due to the combination of smaller goals helping to prohibit companies from stealing American intellectual property and out-competing America with cheaper labor.
Competition with China: The Obama administration was concerned that if the United States did not create a deal with these countries they would turn to China. An overarching goal of the Obama administration was to use economic connections and influence from the TPP to contain China. If China created its own free trade agreement, Chinese-style laws and economic regulations would proliferate in the region rather than American-style policies.

The Drawbacks and Collapse of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Opponents argued that the TPP would lead to greater income inequality and an overall loss of jobs. These opponents often argued that the TPP would not help GDP growth, destroy close to half a million jobs, and mainly help large companies. Americans were reminded of current trade deals such as WTO-China and NAFTA where opponents also disputed the economic benefits and claimed they would destroy jobs and raise income inequality. President Trump was a vocal opponent of the agreement, and the US withdrew from the TPP in 2017 when Trump took office. Trump favored a targeted approach with each individual country. The other countries moved forward without the United States, and new members join the agreement each year. However, the US has struggled to negotiate individual agreements with a diverse set of countries.

Future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

With another recent change in administration, the Trans-Pacific Partnership has resurfaced as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity(IPEF). This partnership has risen at a time when Americans have a record low opinion of the Chinese government on a host of issues. Americans have developed negative opinions toward China due to Covid-19, the Hong Kong crackdowns, and the Uyghur genocide. Americans previously held a neutral perspective on China, and this fall in opinion has transformed tariffs and other economic restrictions placed on China by President Trump from a controversial and partisan issue into a commonly supported idea by members of both parties.