Trump has also referenced the starring role Clinton’s husband, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, played in advancing similar “rigged trade” agreements – which are opposed not only by conservative “Trumpkins” but also “progressives” who backed the presidential candidacy of independent socialist U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. The state tilts Democratic in presidential years, but often is close enough that it could be up for grabs if Democrats are divided.
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Supporters of the TPP say it aims to deepen economic ties and boost growth. Obama has worked tirelessly negotiating and then advocating for the agreement, making it a top second-term priority.
Supporters argue the TPP strengthens labour standards with minimum wage protections and child labour prohibitions. Also backing the deal: traditional Republican allies in the business lobby, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. And Trump has hammered it as a poorly negotiated giveaway of USA power.
When asked if Clinton would come around now that she is the nominee, McAuliffe said: “Yes”.
“And make no mistake we will defend American jobs and American workers by saying “no” to the assault on the right to organize and bargain collectively”.
Clinton’s history is mixed on free trade.
In fact, those Democrats are rallying against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal that has driven a wedge between many Democrats and their president, Barack Obama.
Terry McAuliffe caused Hillary Clinton a political headache Tuesday night when he said he expects her to reverse her position on a major free trade deal.
“I worry that if we don’t do TPP, at some point China’s going to break the rules – but Hillary understands this”, McAuliffe stated after his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The Republican nominee repeated his argument that Clinton only switched her stance on TPP, which she supported as secretary of state, because of his position.
Kind declined to say if he would support a congressional vote on the deal during the lame-duck session of Congress. Such a vote has been floated by supporters of the deal as possibly its only path forward, since both Clinton and Trump have come out against it.
A spokesman for McAuliffe later told Politico, however, that he was only expressing to CNN what he hoped she would do, if elected. That’s a problem for Clinton: Two-thirds of Americans already view her as untrustworthy. While Hillary Clinton has maintained her opposition to the TPP since past year, McAuliffe suggested that she would eventually accept the deal with modest changes.
The tariff-slashing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has turned into a hot-button topic in the run-up to the November 8 USA election, threatening to dampen support from lawmakers needed to pass a deal critics condemn as a job-killer.
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Donald Trump pounced on the report during a press conference at his Doral resort in Miami on Wednesday.
