R.I.P., TPP

In one of his first acts in office, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement that was years in the making. Trump says that doing so will help American workers and companies compete more fairly. In reality, his decision will have exactly the opposite effect.

Although TPP is often called a free-trade agreement, it actually would've done little to liberalize American markets, which are already wide open to most countries taking part in the deal. U.S. tariffs on most products from TPP countries range from 1 percent to 3 percent; lowering them further wouldn't have had much effect. The real impact was in setting standards and rules -- and in creating a new model for trade agreements that would've better served American workers and firms.