Pauline Hanson applauds Trump for ending TPP trade deal

The Australian wine industry is disappointed that President Trump has dumped the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, but Pauline Hanson is "pleased".

Trump signed an executive order on Monday to withdraw the United States from the TPP.

“Everyone knows what that means, right?” Trump announced. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time. It’s a great thing for the American worker.”

The United States is a key market for Australian wines, accounting for more than $440m in exports in 2015. However, there wasn't the same level of growth in 2016.

"In the 12 months to June 30, Australian wine exports to China increased in value by 50% [to $419 million]. Over the same period of time the US increased by 9%," wine critic James Halliday told ABC News last year.

Despite faltering growth of Australian wine sales in the US, Senator Hanson told news.com.au: “I was very pleased to see that the President of the United States has pulled out of it and hence I’m sure it will flow onto Australia (and) we won’t go ahead with it.

“I would like to look at doing free trade with countries on an individual needs basis and what is in the best interests of Australia,” she said.

Her comments fly in the face of the Winemakers Federation of Australia's (WFA) view on the agreement. It reiterated yesterday that the TPP provides great opportunities for the Australian wine sector, and asked the industry and government to do everything in their power to ensure the agreement comes into force.

Tony Battaglene, Chief Executive of the WFA, told ABC News: "For us the TPP's specific annex about non-tariff measures — labelling, composition issues and other requirements for wine products ... would have given us the ability to sell products in the 12 countries without any trade restrictions due to those differing national standards."

The WFA said in a statement: "The worst thing for the prosperity of the Australian people will be to embrace protectionism. We need strong export growth and trade liberalisation through Free Trade Agreements is key to our success."
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo is refusing to accept defeat. 

"It may come to pass — and certainly it appears to be the case — that the US won't ratify the TPP but the gains we have achieved absolutely warrant hanging on," he told the ABC. 

"Access to the US market was no doubt an incentive for a lot of countries, but there is also a tremendous amount of benefit [that has] been able to be achieved under the agreement that countries don't want to let go."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull backed up those remarks on Melbourne's Triple M yesterday, saying that the Government was "looking at every opportunity to expand the markets for Australian exports".

"We are working flat out to find more opportunities for Australians to sell their services, their goods, their produce because that drives employment here."