President Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to claim that his visit to Asia had shown countries that the “rules have changed” when it comes to trade with the U.S.
“After my tour of Asia, all Countries dealing with us on TRADE know that the rules have changed,” wrote the president from the Philippines, where was to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit later on Tuesday.
“The United States has to be treated fairly and in a reciprocal fashion. The massive TRADE deficits must go down quickly!” he continued.
Earlier in his five-nation trip to Asia, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP,) which he had promised to do during his campaign. The TPP is a trading partnership between 12 countries in the Pacific region that Obama had helped to negotiate. After Trump’s withdrawal, the 11 remaining countries decided to continue the partnership.
In a later tweet, Trump claimed the ASEAN summit “Will lead to FAIR TRADE DEALS, unlike the horror shows from past Administrations.”
He then said that he would be making a major statement from the White House upon his return to Washington on Wednesday.
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