The federal government is refusing to give up on an ambitious 12-nation Pacific trade pact despite the prospect of a protectionist Senate and opposition in the US.
The upper house is shaping up to be difficult for the government's free-trade agenda and its plans to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Nick Xenophon Team, Pauline Hanson's One Nation and Jacqui Lambie, considered either protectionist or anti-free trade, are readying to take their spots in the Senate.
Senator Nick Xenophon says the government should just throw in the towel on the TPP, which he believes will fail to deliver the promised benefits.
He fears the agreement will sacrifice tens of thousands of Australian jobs, accusing the government of failing to think through the real-life consequences.
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But his most potent argument is that the deal could be dead in the water anyway given both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton oppose it.
"Why are we jumping into this deal when whoever will be US president doesn't want a bar of it?" Senator Xenophon told ABC radio on Thursday.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo, who was in Washington this week to discuss the TPP, is refusing to heed the call.
He's not prepared to walk away from what, he says, history has demonstrated that countries embracing free trade are richer and better off.
"I don't think you say it's over till it's over," Mr Ciobo told ABC TV.
He hopes the deal could at least be cleared at home with the help of the Labor Party.
But the minister was careful to pick up on the apparent rise of domestic scepticism on trade deals.
"I do appreciate that some Australians feel a little alienated by a globalised world, by a world in which currency flows, people flows, trade flows are happening at a faster rate than ever before," Mr Ciobo said.
