On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order formally withdrawing the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which the Obama administration had negotiated over a period of eight years, following through on a promise from his campaign last year.
In an Oval Office ceremony, Trump also signed an order imposing a federal hiring freeze and a directive limiting funding of foreign non-governmental organisations backing abortion.
Trump called the TPP order a "great thing for the American worker."
The agreement, seen as a counter to China's rising economic influence, was promoted by Washington and aimed to set trade rules for the 21st century. Although signed in 2015, it has not yet gone into effect.
It was signed by 12 countries – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Brunei – that together represent 40 percent of the world economy.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a big supporter of the accord, has said that TPP without the United States would not make sense.
(With inputs from PTI and Reuters)
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