National Security Advisor Susan Rice admitted today that passing a landmark trans-Pacific trade agreement is now a "challenge," but it remains in the US strategic interest.
President Barack Obama has championed the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to scrap it, saying it would cost American jobs.
"TPP is obviously a challenge at this stage," Rice told AFP, warning that a failure to pass the deal would leave a vacuum.
"Trade is not going to stop, it will continue, we'll be part of it but we won't be as able to shape the framework to serve our values and our interests," she said.
"That leaves a vacuum for countries like China and others to fill -- that is not in our interest."
America's treaty allies should expect the United States to continue to uphold mutual defence obligations, Rice said in her first public comments after Trump's election win.
"The weight of this office, and the weight of American global leadership, and the responsibilities that it entails, and the history that we share, the interests that endure, make it reasonable for our allies and partners to expect that the United States will uphold its obligations," she said.
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