On Thursday, US President Barack Obama formally notified Congress of his intent to sign the landmark trade deal, but he must gather support in Washington to ensure the deal can be formally approved.
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“And that would only threaten American jobs and workers and undermine American leadership around the world”, he said.
Before the release of the text, House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin said, “The upcoming 90-day period was established to facilitate an intensive and informed debate over the merits of TPP as negotiated, as well as the necessity for any modifications to the agreement, before the agreement is signed”.
For that reason, he said, California congressional representatives should support the TPP.
Additionally the deal aims to prohibit the trade of goods made with forced labor and aims to raise working standards for all nations in the agreement.
Signatories to the agreement include wealthy industrialized countries such as Canada, Australia and Japan, as well as low-wage countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam. The Obama administration has attempted to cool the criticism from big labor and environmental groups, assuring them that the deal will only encourage domestic job growth.
Sifton said he doubted the United States would “have the desire and the will to enforce the terms of the agreement”.
It promises new markets and millions of new consumers for, say, cotton from Texas, wine from California and pork from North Carolina as tariffs and trade barriers are lowered for nations around the Pacific Rim.
“The words “climate change” don’t even appear in the text, a dead giveaway that this isn’t a 21st-century trade deal”, he said. We can’t afford another trade deal that benefits multinational corporations, their shareholders and executives.
The release of the text begins the process of each of the 12 governments getting public and legislative approval of the deal. The entire deal must be ratified as agreed, without changes, which could tie the hands of governments and legislators.
The text of the 30-chapter treaty, without its annexes, makes for a 3.15MB zipped archive on the website of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“We do believe in trade. We need to rebuild the disappearing middle class, not tear it down”.
Obama has to wait 60 days before signing the agreement and sending it to Congress for a review, which would last another month at least.
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He should have an easier time with Republicans, but House Speaker Paul Ryan was noncommittal about supporting the TPP, saying he wanted to look over the details. It eliminates 18,000 taxes that various countries put on American goods. “They will enmesh our great country, and economy, in a global commission where bureaucrats from Brunei have the same vote as the United States”.
