TPP shows its true colors

Some media have reported the possible shelving of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (a would-be 12-nation trade deal with rules written by the United States and excluding China), as a result of the United States withdrawing from it, would be a setback for globalization.

This is ironic, since in its true colors, the TPP is not a trade deal, but rather a geopolitical instrument, albeit a poor one.

It is not designed to be open and to accommodate all trading nations on an equal footing. Instead, it is intended to reinforce the US' dominant position by accommodating some nations handpicked by it and deliberately excluding others, no matter how much those others contribute to global trade.