The chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, John Podesta, has told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that Ms Clinton opposes a congressional vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and is seeking a “new approach” to the agreement, not merely a tweaking of the language:
John Podesta said that Mrs. Clinton and her newly minted running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, have been clear about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.
“They’re against it before the election and against it after the election,” he said at a lunch sponsored by The Wall Street Journal. He said he met with House Democrats, who overwhelmingly oppose the pact, on Monday and reiterated that position. “So they know, they well know what our position is.”
Asked if Mrs. Clinton would seek to renegotiate particular aspects of the agreement but keep the overall structure, he said no.
“We need a new approach to trade,” he said. “We’re not about renegotiation. We’re not kind of interested in that. We’re interested in a new approach”…
On Monday, at the Democratic National Convention, a sea of anti-TPP signs were held by delegates on the floor, and some chanted “no TPP!”
The chances of the US ratifying the TPP continues to fade with opposition building on both sides.
During the Presidential primaries, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders united much of the right and left against the TPP. Hilary Clinton then voiced her opposition, flagging in May that if she is elected president in November she would oppose a vote to ratify the TPP during a lame-duck session of Congress.
If anything, Ms Clinton’s stance against the pact has firmed since she became the Democrat’s nominee, as has Republican nominee, Donald Trump’s. Late last month, Trump escalated the rhetoric against the TPP, proclaiming it a “rape of our country” and challenging Hillary Clinton to void the agreement in its entirety.
It is believed that the best (perhaps only) chance of passing the TPP rests with the Obama Administration waiting until the lame duck session after November’s Presidential Election before giving Congress the chance to vote on the deal. However, Hilary Clinton’s opposition and influence looks increasingly likely to stop the vote from occurring.
The TPP appears to be on life support, dying a slow death.
