The White House announcement in this regard came soon after President Donald Trump issued a memorandum withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral agreement that includes the US and 11 other countries.
"As the president has said many times, this type of multinational agreement is not in our best interest and he's moving quickly to advance trade policies that increase the competitiveness of the American worker and manufacturer," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.
He said big, multinational agreements are not always in the interest of the US.
"The beautiful thing about a bilateral agreement is that if any one of the true parties in the agreement decides at any time they want to get out of the agreement, or they're not being treated fairly, they can renegotiate much easier," he said.
The White House Press secretary said, "When you enter into these multinational agreements, you're allowing any country, no matter the size - any one of those 12, including us, to basically have the same stature as the US in the agreement.
"So we're basically on par with some very small companies who are getting access to an amazing market, the United States. And in return, we're negotiating at the lowest common denominator," he said.