By Ethan Tan

Staff Writer

  President Donald Trump has been known to use his executive power to withdraw the United States out of trade deals, treaties, and organizations. From the withdrawal of the U.S. from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Trump administration within its first year has pulled the U.S. out from more deals, treaties, and organizations than any other president in history.

  The Trump administration released a memo on Oct. 12 noting that the U.S. would withdraw itself and its financial contributions to the UNESCO due to its “anti-Israel” bias. The decision does not go into effect until the end of 2018.  

  UNESCO, one of the premier agencies of the United Nations (UN), has the duty to declare world heritage sites, advocate for and protect human rights and to advance the Sustainable Development Goals put forth by the UN General Assembly. Each of the 193 member states of the UN is represented in UNESCO, but with the withdrawal of the U.S., 2019 will mark the first time that member states of the UN will not be represented with voting power at UNESCO.

  Trump heavily criticized the UN and its agencies and stated that the rationale for the withdrawal was that UNESCO does not support or share the same goals of the U.S. diplomatically.

  Irina Bokova, the outgoing UNESCO Director-General, noted to the New York Times in response Trump that, “Universality is critical to UNESCO’s mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity.”

  Without the U.S., UNESCO is put in a negative light which opens the door for other countries to leave, causing the reach of UNESCO’s scientific education on climate change and its cultural programs about human rights and the holocaust to diminish. With the U.S. also having 23 UNESCO world heritage sites, the U.S. will lose funding for these sites.

  Besides the UNESCO withdrawal, Trump created plans to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord in July 2017. Trump decision was based on the fact that U.S. would not benefit from the deal and that the economy and development would be adversely affected. This was in addition to Trump’s statement that the deal would not make China and India reduce their emissions as much as the U.S.

    The Paris Climate Accord, a landmark agreement to reduce the cause and mitigate the effects of climate change, was signed by the U.S. and 194 other counties in December of 2015.

  Even though the U.S. is not allowed to withdraw until November of 2020, the Trump has promised that the withdrawal will happen at the earliest possible date.

  In January, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the TPP, an Obama-negotiated trade deal between 12 Asian-Pacific countries. The TPP sought to increase relations with the region and to prevent China’s economic dominance of the Asian economy. During his campaign, Trump said that the TPP will destroy the American economy and will harm the job security of the majority of Americans.

  Because of Trump’s withdrawal, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s leader stated at a press event that the TPP was now meaningless as the main goal of the agreement  was to increase U.S. presence in Asian markets.

  At a news conference Trump stated, “What we’ve done with the decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, [is create] an incentive for our trading partners to diversify […] to look for their own way, to have conversations and negotiations.”

  Trump in October 2017 asserted that he planned to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, but failed to do so due to the lack of congressional approval.
On Oct. 12 the Trump Administration released a memo that the United States would withdraw itself and its financial contributions to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) due to its “anti-Israel” bias. Like many other withdrawals President Donald Trump has made, the withdrawal does not go into effect immediately, but goes into effect at the end of 2018.  

  UNESCO, one of the premier agencies of the United Nations (UN), has the duty to declare world heritage sites, protect and advocate for human rights and to advance the Sustainable Development Goals put forth by the UN General Assembly. Each of the 193 member states of the UN is represented in UNESCO, but with the withdrawal of the US and the subsequent withdrawal of Israel, 2019 will mark the first time that member states will not be represented at UNESCO.

  Irina Bokova, the outgoing UNESCO director, noted to the New York Times, “Universality is critical to Unesco’s mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity,” in response to the US State Department’s which defended Trump’s action by saying that UNESCO does not support the goals of the US.

  Besides the UNESCO withdrawal, Trump in July of 2017 created plans to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. Trump who defended his actions by saying that the US didn’t benefit from the deal and would be adversely affected by the “badly negotiated” deal in terms of the economy and development.

  Trump at a speech at the White House in June stated, “I cannot in good conscience support a deal that punishes the United States, which is what it does, while imposing no meaningful obligations on the world’s leading polluters,” citing that the deal doesn’t make China and India reduce their emissions as much as the US.

  The Paris Climate Accord, a landmark agreement to reduce the cause and mitigate the effects of climate change, was signed by United States and 194 other counties in December of 2015 with all member states of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change singing by October of this year.

  The US, which is not allowed to withdraw until November of 2020, under the Trump Administration has promised to keep its word regarding the withdrawal from the deal.

  The administration in January has also withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP which is a trade deal between 12 Asian-Pacific countries, was negotiated under the Obama Administration which sought to increase relations with countries that were in the deal and to stop China from economic domination in the region. Trump however during his campaign made the TPP a talking point saying that the TPP will destroy the American economy and will harm the job security of the majority of Americans.

  Because of Trump’s withdrawal, Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, leader of one of the key member nations of the TPP, stated at a press event that the TPP was now “meaningless” as the main goal of the TPP was to increase US presence in Asian markets, “a loss for the US.”

  Trump later defended himself at a news conference where he stated, “What we’ve done with the decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, [is create] an incentive for our trading partners to diversify […] to look for their own way, to have conversations and negotiations.”

  This symbolizes a new era in American foreign relations as Trump seeks to negotiate deals bilaterally instead of multilaterally.

  Trump also has planned to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, but failed to do so due to congressional approval being needed.