US interests were well served by Asia-Pacific pivot: WH

The Asia-Pacific rebalance strategy, one of the signature foreign policy initiatives of the Obama administration, has served US interests well, the White House has said.

"The President believes that the interest of the United States were well served by our policy of rebalancing our attention to Asia," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily news conference.

"But, there certainly is more that can and should be done, but we'll have to see what the incoming administration chooses to do," he said in response to a question.

Earnest said that the interests of US were advanced in important ways with the commitment of this administration to strengthening its alliances in the Asia-Pacific and looking for ways to expand economic opportunities for the American people in the region.
 

"This administration completed the trade agreement with the Republic of Korea, something that deepens our ties with our ally country. It also expands economic opportunities for American businesses that are looking to get access to South Korean markets," he added.

"Now, what we advocated and what President Obama dedicated a significant portion of his presidency to doing, was negotiating a Trans-Pacific Partnership," the White House Press Secretary said.

This, he said, was a trade agreement with 11 other countries where the US would be able to work effectively to level the playing field and impose higher and enforceable labour, environmental, and human rights standards, besides protections for things like intellectual property that would give US businesses access to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

The benefits of the policy included slashing 18,000 taxes that other countries impose on American goods and services, he said

"But unfortunately, Congress did not take action on the agreement that the Obama administration negotiated, and that's unfortunate because early indications are that other countries are prepared to move forward without the United States," he rued.

"That's going to put US businesses and the US economy at a disadvantage. It means that other country's products are gonna be cheaper for some countries to import, and that's gonna put US businesses at even greater disadvantage," Earnest said.

He said it is a difficult case for opponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to make that it would have had a negative impact on American economy.

"The fact is this would have fallen through on a number of the president's promises, including renegotiating NAFTA in a way that has positive benefits for the US economy, for American businesses and for American workers," Earnest said.