Making it clear that he plans to implement several of his poll promises that could potentially disrupt the global trade system led by the U.S., President-elect Donald Trump said America would withdraw from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and an investigation would be launched into visa abuses that undercut American workers.
Indian IT companies that use the H-1B visa programme to bring workers to America could be affected by this move.
President Barack Obama has championed the TPP deal of 12 Pacific Rim countries that notably excludes China. Mr. Obama has argued that the TPP is essential to ensure that America continues to write the rules of global commerce, and not China. The pact is now awaiting Congressional ratification.
“I am going to issue our notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country. Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores,” Mr. Trump said in a two minute, 37 second video released by the transition team.
Trade, energy, national security, regulation, immigration, and ethics reforms are the six areas that he said would be the focus of his administration in the initial days. His transition team is drawing up a list of executive actions to be taken “on day one to restore our laws and bring back our jobs,” said Mr. Trump. “It’s about time,” he said.
“My agenda will be based on a simple core principle: putting America First.
Whether it’s producing steel, building cars, or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here, in our great homeland: America – creating wealth and jobs for American workers,” said Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump’s plan for the first 100 days involves cancelling “job-killing restrictions” on coal and shale gas, reducing the number of regulations, devising a plan to protect America’s vital infrastructure from cyber-attacks and imposing a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists after they leave the government. There will be a lifetime ban on executive officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government, said the President-elect. There could be executive orders on all this on his first day in office, he indicated.
H-1B visa opponents in leadership on both sides
These measures announced by Mr. Trump will likely have support from a large section of the Democrats also. Senator Bernie Sanders has said he would be go along with the incoming President on decisions that bring back jobs to America and help its middle class. Mr. Sanders is also for America's withdrawal from the TPP.
The H-1B visa programme that brings in 85,000 skilled workers to America every year – a large number of them from India – will be the target of investigation. This move also will have bipartisan support. Senator Jeff Sessions, who has been at the forefront of the anti-H-1B visa campaign on the Republican side will be the new Attorney General and New York’s Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, a strong critic of the programme, has been elected the party leader in the Senate. Mr. Sanders also has criticised the programme in the past.
Critics of the H-1B programme have argued that the companies are abusing it to bring cheaper foreign workers to replace American workers. The companies that seek H-1B visas have a lot of flexibility to classify a worker’s skill levels and fix remuneration accordingly. These processes are subject to approval by the U.S Department of Labour, which will now be asked to investigate abuses. Critics also argue that visa programmes cannot be part of trade negotiations. The U.S courts have repeatedly upheld replacement of American workers with cheaper ones as legal, but the incoming leadership at the Justice Department with Mr. Sessions as AG would not let it pass easily.
