Three days after taking office, President Donald Trump made one of the first major economic-policy changes of his presidency.
He withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The decision fulfilled one of Trump's central campaign promises and marked an immediate departure from the trade strategy pursued by President Barack Obama.
The TPP had been designed to create an enormous Pacific trading bloc linking the United States with 11 other countries.
Under Trump, the United States would walk away.
What Was the TPP?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership was a proposed trade agreement involving 12 Pacific Rim nations:
The United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Together, the countries represented roughly 40 percent of the global economy at the time the agreement was negotiated.
The agreement sought to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers while establishing common rules covering areas including intellectual property, investment, labor standards and environmental protections.
Obama's administration considered the agreement an important part of American economic strategy in Asia.
But the agreement became politically controversial at home.
Critics from both parties argued that previous trade agreements had contributed to manufacturing job losses and that the TPP could further encourage companies to move production overseas.
Supporters countered that the agreement would open foreign markets to American products, establish higher trade standards and strengthen the United States economically in the Asia-Pacific region.
Trump Had Campaigned Against It
Trump made opposition to multinational trade agreements a central part of his 2016 campaign.
He argued that American leaders had negotiated trade deals that benefited other countries at the expense of American workers.
The TPP became one of his favorite examples.
His broader philosophy was that the United States should negotiate directly with individual countries rather than participate in large multinational trade agreements.
Once he became president, he moved quickly to implement that position.
The United States Withdraws
On January 23, Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the United States Trade Representative to withdraw the country as a signatory to the TPP and permanently withdraw from the negotiating process.
The memorandum also directed American trade officials to pursue bilateral agreements wherever possible.
Trump said the objective was to promote American industry, protect American workers and increase wages.
There was an important technical distinction.
The TPP had been signed by its participating countries in February 2016, but it had not yet entered into force.
Congress had not approved legislation implementing the agreement in the United States.
That meant Trump's action did not suddenly impose new tariffs or dismantle an existing trading system.
Instead, it ended American participation before the proposed agreement became operational.
A Major Change in American Trade Strategy
The significance extended beyond the TPP itself.
For decades, American administrations of both parties had generally pursued international trade liberalization through combinations of bilateral, regional and multinational agreements.
Trump was signaling a different approach.
His administration would place greater emphasis on bilateral negotiations and would challenge existing trade relationships when it believed the terms disadvantaged the United States.
That philosophy would soon extend far beyond the TPP.
NAFTA would be renegotiated.
Tariffs would become a major instrument of American economic policy.
Trade disputes with China would escalate dramatically.
And arguments about manufacturing, supply chains and America's dependence on foreign production would become recurring themes of Trump's presidency.
The Other Countries Didn't Abandon the Idea
American withdrawal didn't kill the project.
The remaining 11 countries continued negotiating without the United States.
They eventually created a revised agreement known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.
The new agreement entered into force among its first participating countries in December 2018.
The United States remained outside it.
One of Trump's First Major Policy Decisions
The January 23 memorandum demonstrated how quickly Trump intended to translate his campaign promises into government policy.
Whether leaving the TPP would ultimately help or hurt the American economy remained the subject of substantial disagreement.
Supporters saw withdrawal as a rejection of a trade system they believed had disadvantaged American workers.
Opponents argued that abandoning the agreement sacrificed American economic influence in one of the world's most important regions.
But the immediate consequence was unmistakable.
Just three days after becoming president, Donald Trump had removed the United States from one of the largest proposed trade agreements in the world.
The “America First” trade policy was no longer a campaign slogan.
It was becoming government policy.