The Trump administration said Wednesday it was time for a more aggressive approach to trade negotiations and enforcements, declaring it may ignore certain rulings by the World Trade Organization to "defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy," the Financial Times reports.
The 336-page report was sent to Congress on Wednesday and includes a section titled "The President's Trade Policy Agenda," outlining the administration's objectives.
"It is time for a more aggressive approach," the report read. "The Trump administration will use all possible leverage to encourage other countries to give U.S. producers fair, reciprocal access to their markets."
The trade agenda said Washington will strictly enforce trade deals, protect U.S. intellectual property, strongly defend U.S. sovereignty in trade issues and negotiate "new and better trade deals with countries in key markets around the world."
"If the Trump administration follows through on the proposals in this document, it would be a body blow to the multinational trade system that the U.S. has helped to build up," Eswar Prasad, a senior professor of trade policy at Cornell University, told The Washington Post. "The WTO will lose effectiveness and credibility in trade resolutions if the U.S. decides to walk away."
Trump three days into his presidency withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He has also talked about how much he disliked the North American Free Trade Agreement.
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