Trump says US will quit the TPP

President-elect Donald Trump says the US will quit the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on his first day in the White House.

The massive trade deal was agreed in 2015 by nations including the US, Mexico, Canada,  Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, but has not yet been formally agreed by the individual countries.

He said it in a video briefing what he intends to do first when he takes over as president.

He stated he was going to issue a note of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, saying it’s “a potential disaster for our country”. As an alternative he said he would “negotiate fair bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back”.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal was agreed by 12 countries which combined control 40% of the world’s economy.

Mr Trump also promised to ease “job-killing restrictions” on coal production and stop visa abuses.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership’s purpose was to strengthen economic cooperation and stimulate growth, including by reducing taxes on imports and exports.

There were also procedures to improve labour and environmental standards, patents, copyrights and other legal protections.