At the U.S. presidential election held on November 8, when ballots were counted immediately after voting finished, Republican nominee Donald Trump, 70, a celebrity businessman, was elected President of the United States of America by defeating Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, 69, former U.S. Secretary of State.
Trump’s triumph over Clinton has made it remarkably difficult for twelve member countries, including Japan, of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement to forecast when the agreement will take effect, since he had insisted on leaving the TPP during his election campaign in which the free trade pact was one of the top agenda items.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has been consistently opposing the TPP agreement, arguing that the TPP deal would devastate the U.S. manufacturing industry. He also said definitely that he would declare U.S. withdrawal from the TPP framework just on January 20, 2017, the first day of his inauguration of U.S. Presidency.
Although Donald Trump did not mention about the TPP free trade pact in his triumphal speech on November 9, he has showed a more interest in bilateral trade talks than multilateral deals.
A number of stakeholders are now closely watching what kind of leadership he will take in promoting bilateral trade with Japan after he moves into the White House next January.