The US administration of President Barack Obama announced on Friday its suspension of efforts to win congressional approval for Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying it was up to president-elect Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers.

Considering Trump's clear expression of opposition to the deal several times and even labeling it a "disaster", it seems likely that the TPP is now dead.

Obama remarked that the US would not allow countries such as China make the global trade rules and vowed US-led domination of the process shortly after representatives of TPP member states reached a consensus in October 2015. Given that the TPP members combined account for 40 percent of the world's total economy and that China is excluded from the bloc, it has been widely believed that the TPP is aimed at containing China and excluding it from regional economic integration.