[...] global concerns about Trump's pending ascension to the world's most powerful office after a surprise win in last week's U.S. presidential election will be a key topic of discussion during Obama's meetings. During the campaign, the New York businessman rattled U.S. allies by questioning the value of multinational organizations like NATO, and he opposed international trade deals, including a pending Pacific trade pact that Obama negotiated with 11 other countries, calling such agreements harmful to U.S. workers. Since Obama opened the final foreign trip of his presidency with a stop in Greece on Tuesday, he has tried to reassure his counterparts that the U.S. will uphold its partnerships and obligations despite the divisive rhetoric of a campaign that ended with the election of a real estate mogul and reality TV star with no prior political or government experience. Obama supports international trade deals as a way both to boost U.S. exports and create jobs domestically, and the TPP deal was a key component of his strategy to "pivot" U.S. policy toward Asia to take advantage of the region's fast-growing marketplaces and, at the same time, to create a counterweight to China's growing influence in the region. Trump leveled harsh criticism at China during the election, threatening the Asian powerhouse with hefty import tariffs over alleged trade and currency violations.
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com |