Well that didn’t take long.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal--a major reversal of Barack Obama's trade efforts.

The President strongly opposed the 12-country trade pact – a signature theme of his campaign – but the agreement had not yet received Senate approval, so the executive order was more of a formality.

Here's a look at what all the acronyms mean and what you need to know.

First things first. What's the difference between the TTIP and the TPP?

In simple terms, the TTIP, or Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, involves the US and the EU, while the TPP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership, binds the US, Canada, Mexico and several pacific rim states (including Japan, Malaysia, Singpore, Vitenam) into a free trading pact. In practice, they are regarded as sister agreements ensuring easier trade, but the TPP is further ahead in the negotiating process than the TTIP. It just hasn’t been ratified and it now looks as if it will not be ratified. To all intents and purposes both the TTIP and the TPP you can argue that both are doomed.

Even back in November, shortly after Mr Trump’s election victory, Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, told German online magazine vorwaerts.de that "TTIP is history".

What will be the economic impact of Mr Trump withdrawing from TPP or TTIP?

Hard to say. You can easily find people who will say that the scrapping of these agreements will cost billions in terms of lost trade and jobs. You can just as easily find people to say that such claims are over stated and that the cost of such deals are under stated. And there are just as many opponents on the left as there are on the right. Issues raised by the former include, for example, the secrecy with which negotiations have been conducted, not to mention the Investor State Dispute Settlement apparatus, which has proved to be a major bugbear. The TUC describes it as “unacceptable in TTIP and any trade deal” because it gives foreign investors the right to a special international court system to sue countries for compensation if they believe public policy would endanger future profits. “ISDS has been used on numerous occasions to overturn legitimate public policy,” says the TUC.

What about the geopolitical impact?

That’s where it gets interesting as regards the TPP. This might yet be the most important and negative (for the US at least) consequence of Mr Trump’s approach. The point about these deals is that the agenda has been set by the US, and the US is the driving force behind them. The TPP, in particular, exports the US version of free trade into one of the world’s most important and economically dynamic regions, with all those involved signing up to a peaceful trading pact. While Trump will likley now seek to do individual deals with at least some of the countries involved, there might very well be an opportunity for China to attempt to fill in the gap that has been created.

In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges guests as he arrives on the platform at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump shakes hands with Justice John Roberts after taking the oath at inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump President Donald Trump raises his fists after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets outgoing President Barack Obama before Trump is inaugurated during ceremonies on the Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump resident-elect Donald Trump arrives on the platform of the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Attendees partake in the inauguration ceremonies to swear in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump US President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address during ceremonies at the US Capitol in Washington DC Getty In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump waves with wife Melania during the Inaugural Parade in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters registered their rage against the new president Friday in a chaotic confrontation with police who used pepper spray and stun grenades in a melee just blocks from Donald Trump's inaugural parade route. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers AP In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators protest against US President Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A woman holds a sign before the start of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Anti-Trump protesters prepare banners for a protest against the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, in Berlin REUTERS In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators shout slogans against US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators march, block foot traffic and clash with U.S. Capitol Police at the entry checkpoints for the Inauguration of Donald Trump Alamy Live News In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators display a banner as people arrive for US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A man displays a placard as people lineup to get into the National Mall for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump raise their hands as they are surrounded by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A demonstrator wearing a mask depicting Donald Trump protests outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Demonstrators hold placards as they protest outside the US Embassy in London Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former US President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive for the Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden share an umbrella as President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address at the inauguration in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton arrive on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC Getty Images In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Advisors to President-elect Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon depart from services at St. John's Church during the Presidential Inauguration in Washington Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump take cover as they are hit by pepper spray by police on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump An activist demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump is helped after being hit by pepper spray on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer tries to tackle a protester demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump Reuters/Adrees Latif In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump Police arrest and detain a protester in the street in Washington DC Rex In pictures: Protests, pomp and Donald Trump A police officer falls to the ground as another shoots pepper spray at protesters demonstrating against U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the inauguration in Washington DC Reuters

And how does Nafta differ from these two?

The final important acronym in the trio is Nafta, or the North American Free Trade Agreement. It came into effect in 1994 under President Bill Clinton as a deal between the US, Canada and Mexico. It ensured that most tariff barriers between the three countries were scrapped and resulted in the creation of one of the world’s biggest free trade areas. On Sunday, Mr Trump (perhaps unsurprisingly) took aim at it and said that he would renegotiate the agreement with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Quitting Nafta altogether would in theory be quite straightforward. The President in his speech last week actually cited Nafta’s Article 2205, a super short article which very simply states: “A Party may withdraw from this Agreement six months after it provides written notice of withdrawal to the other Parties. If a Party withdraws, the Agreement shall remain in force for the remaining Parties". Naturally, however, pulling out of Nafta would likely raise a slew of questions, especially considering that the US has not withdrawn from a major trade agreement in around 20 years.

So how might Nafta be reformed?

Nobody is really very sure. Beyond stopping the export of blue collar jobs to Mexico, Mr Trump has really given very little indication of what he wants to see, beyond threatening potentially punitive tariffs on imports to the US from Mexico. That would effectively scupper Nafta given that its aim is tariff free trade. Critics say tariffs would not necessarily protect jobs anyway. The Michigan based Center for Automative Research has argued that they could instead lead to the loss of more than 30,000 automative jobs, with the impact disproportionately falling on blue collar workers. Why? Many of the parts, and much of the engineering work for Mexico's car plants comes from the US, and the centre of the country's auto industry Michigan in particular. Canada is, in many respects, a spectator while all this is going on.

And finally, what does all this it mean for Britain?