Donald Trump speaks to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Vietnam

YE AUNG THU/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump arrives in the central Vietnamese city of Danang for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit on November 10, 2017.

Washington will “no longer tolerate the audacious theft of intellectual property, we will confront the destructive practices of forcing businesses to surrender their technologies to the state and forcing them into joint ventures in exchange for market access,” he said.

Many U.S. firms operating in China have complained of the above policies.

Those who play by the rules will be Washington’s closest economic partners, Trump stated. “Those who do not can be certain that the United States will no longer turn a blind eye to violations, cheating or economic aggression. Those days are over.”

“We cannot achieve open markets if we do not ensure fair market access,” he said, adding that unfair trade “undermines us all.”

The world’s largest economy will also ink bilateral trade agreements with Indo-Pacific nations that abide by fair and reciprocal trade, he continued. “What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that surrender our sovereignty.”

Trump pulled his country out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, pegged as the world’s largest trade deal, in January on concerns over American jobs.

The U.S. leader also praised the economic transformation of many Asian nations, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, saying Washington has been an active partner in Asia-Pacific since the U.S. first won independence.

“We seek friendship and we don’t dream of domination.”