The Trump administration has employed “America First” as its defining electoral and governing slogan, viewing economic openness and globalization as harmful to US jobs and industrial competitiveness. It regards trade surpluses as evidence of winning and deficits as evidence of losing; the stated goal is consequently bilateral trade deals as the optimal approach to reduce America’s trade deficit with its key trading partners. The result has been a turn towards economic protectionism, including American withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It is not clear that such a pursuit of bilateral trading arrangements is even economically feasible, but this policy stance displays a broader lack of confidence in multilateral institutions and contributes to the growing doubts about America’s leadership credibility in the Asia-Pacific.

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