Asia to narrow trade focus as protectionism rises: analysts

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AFP, Lima :
Fast-growing Asia-Pacific economies will strike more trade deals among themselves as opposition grows in Europe and the US to globalization, analysts say, warning the West will lose out as the dynamic region powers ahead.
The most high-profile victim of recent protectionist sentiments has been a major US-led trans-Pacific deal, which is as good as dead after the shock American election victory of Donald Trump this month.
The Trans Pacific-Partnership (TPP), an agreement of 12 Pacific Rim economies, was the economic plank of President Barack Obama’s “pivot” to Asia, and notably excluded China as the US sought to combat Beijing’s rising influence.
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