The 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that was signed earlier this year may not come into effect in its present form. Both the US presidential candidates—frontrunner, Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump—are opposing the treaty in its current form stating that it is against the US trade interests. Clinton is against the implementation of the pact since contesting for the polls, while Trump has consistently condemned the ratification of the treaty in his poll campaign. Unless both of them revoke their decision of not supporting the agreement, Vietnam which stands to gain enormously from the trade deal that spans 40 percent of the world’s economy will incur heavy losses. “My message to every worker in Michigan and across America is this: I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” said Clinton during a campaign in Warren recently. She categorically said, “I oppose it now, I’ll oppose it after the election, and I’ll oppose it as president.” Likewise, Trump has also taken a stance against the agreement. Reportedly, Trump who has been against the implementation of the treaty vouches to remove the US from the TPP membership if he wins the presidential polls. In a public address in Pennsylvania, Trump said, “The TPP would be the death blow for American manufacturing… It would further open our markets to aggressive currency cheaters.” Going by the statements of presidential nominees, it seems very likely that TPP will at least be revisited or reworked, if not altogether scrapped, after the new president takes over early next year. This will have a drastic effect on the textile and clothing sector of Vietnam, which expects duty on its exports to the US to reduce to zero from the current 17 per cent.
