United Parcel Service is lobbying members of Congress to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership, UPS CEO David Abney said today. “Other countries aren’t sitting by if we pass up on this opportunity”. Although it is hard to quantify, it “would benefit both FedEx and UPS”.
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Last Friday, the US Office of the Trade Representative posted a draft statement describing serious administrative actions for implementing the TPP trade agreement that would be sent to the US Congress for approval.
Supported by the Obama Administration, the TPP agreement must still be ratified by Congress, and has become a political football in the presidential election, with both major party candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump saying they are opposed to the deal. “Trade is not the demon that sometimes people think it is”, he said, adding that every 22 worldwide packages that either enter or leave the US supports a UPS job. Abney said the TPP contains a chapter on small businesses, and should help smaller US firms increase exports. It also focuses on current issues with e-commerce, as well as setting labor, health and safety and environmental standards.
House and Senate leaders have made clear any such bill would be rejected unless changes are made to certain TPP provisions, including those on intellectual property protection for biologic drugs, dispute settlement, and storage of financial data.
“We would much rather see the USA involved in setting the standard for trade with Asia, than to have China do it”, the CEO says.
FedEx’s Michael Ducker, chief of the company’s freight division, echoed Mr. Abney’s concern that the deal will leave the USA behind in a recent interview and said that people here need to do a better job of extolling the benefits. Opponents say the deal will negatively impact American workers and drive down wages. “The notion that we’re going to pull that up root and branch is unrealistic”.
He said that 41 million U.S.jobs are now supported by trade.
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Nick Timiraos contributed to this article.
