Is Washington Using TPP Deal to Impose Own Rules on China?

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, US President Barack Obama called on the Congress to pass the TPP accord. The United States has negotiated the free trade agreement to strengthen its position in Asia and limit China’s ability to dictate rules in the region, he highlighted, adding that the pact would also open markets, protect workers and the environment.

"The interdependence of the Chinese and the US economy is so strong, serious and deep that it is impossible to cross out or remove China from this interaction and none of the companies in the United States is interested in this," Natalia Stapran, the director of the Russian Research Center of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, stated.

It can be explained by these countries’ close interrelation in cooperative production chains, she added.

"Obama does not say that we [the United States] are against China, but says that the rules of the game in the region should be established by the United States," Stapran emphasized.

At the same time, China is not ready to fully reply to the challenges of the TTP, as it has multiple domestic structural economic problems, the expert outlined.

"In principle, the TPP agreement has not been prepared against China, it has been prepared to seriously raise the standards of cooperation in the investment sphere… The United States relies on its competitiveness, but it does not prevent others from becoming more competitive," Alexander Gabuev, the chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, pointed out.

Obama announced the conclusion of the TPP deal back in October and sent the trade agreement to US Congress for ratification.

The deal includes the United States and 11 Pacific nations that account for some 36 percent of global Gross Domestic Product in 2014.