How Did Rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership Impact the United States' Economic and Political Interests?

Domestic and International Relations (The Ohio State University Denman Undergraduate Research Forum)With the Belt and Road Initiative and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, China has established itself as a potential challenger to the United States' global hegemony. In response to the rise of China, the United States had since shifted its geopolitical focus towards East Asia through the pivot-to-Asia initiative with the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP) as its centerpiece; the Agreement aimed to strengthen ties with allies in Asia and unite countries with different interests to counterbalance China's growing power and influence. However, due to domestic opposition, the TPP failed to ratify in Congress and was abandoned after President Donald Trump formally withdrew from the negotiations in 2017. The purpose of this study is to investigate how rejecting the TPP impacted the United States' economic and political interests. The thesis adopts a qualitative approach that incorporates various research methods such as directly examining TPP provisions, reviewing secondary research on the economic significance of the TPP, conducting literature reviews on neoliberal theories, and juxtaposing the TPP with alternative trade agreements through counterfactual analysis. The evidence from this thesis suggests that rejecting the TPP led to the absence of up-to-date trade provisions, stalled trade liberalization, and relinquished a vital policy instrument that could have been used to counter the rise of China. The results indicate that rejecting the TPP negatively impacted the United States' economic and political interests. Further research is needed to understand the political obstacles that led to the rejection of the TPP despite its economic and political benefits; this could provide insight into ways to make future regional trade agreements more politically feasible.No embargoAcademic Major: International StudiesAcademic Major: World Politic