Story highlights Jonathan Tasini: TPP was already dead as a doornail, so Trump's withdrawal is hardly bold news

Trump's other plans make it clear he's out to help corporations, not the average worker, he says

Jonathan Tasini (@jonathantasini) has been a frequent commentator on CNN. He is the author of "The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America," president of the Economic Future Group and the host of the "Working Life" podcast. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

(CNN) Donald Trump is likely to portray withdrawing from the Trans Pacific Partnership as a bold stroke, and his not-constrained-by-facts White House is sure to tout it as the greatest economic move made by an occupant of the Oval Office in modern history. But, looking more closely, the decision reflects mostly a political reality, combined with a healthy helping of cynical economic misdirection.

The truth is that Donald Trump had very little to do with the TPP's demise.

Jonathan Tasini

The TPP was dead in the water in America because of a long-term, unrelenting political campaign here and abroad, led by unions, environmentalists, and consumer groups. Opponents effectively unmasked the TPP as another failed so-called "free trade" deal — a tidy arrangement that had little to do with unfettered trade, and far more to do with handing more power to large corporate interests to exploit labor and protect capital, especially patents and intellectual property.

Once the argument for TPP's alleged economic benefits for regular people crumbled, Barack Obama tried to play the China card: he said that the TPP, which covered 12 Pacific Rim nations, was needed to counter China's influence in the region. But, as Public Citizen correctly pointed out, that justification had been used over many years to ram through various trade deals, and it was without merit.

The political pressure against the TPP built up enough opposition among an overwhelming number of Congressional Democrats and enough Republicans to make it unpassable. For that reason, the lame-duck session after the election saw no action taken on the TPP.

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