“But the bar here is very high and, based on what I have seen, I don’t believe this agreement has met it”.
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“I applaud her for taking this step and choosing to embrace workers’ values”, said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO.
Clinton’s position on the massive 12-nation trade deal – a staple of the Obama administration’s foreign policy in the region – has been a festering question ever since she launched her bid for the White House.
And Clinton’s position on trade is a bulwark against the possible candidacy of Vice President Biden, who would have trouble distancing himself from the trade pact because of his role helping Obama round up support for it.
But Clinton signaled her hedge on the TPP in the spring when she did not offer support as Obama prodded Congress to back trade promotion authority legislation that would grant him “fast track” powers to smooth the path for trade deals, including the TPP. If he doesn’t, she said at the time, “there should be no deal”. “The risks are too high that, despite our best efforts, they will end up doing more harm than good”, Clinton said.
Clinton has a long history with free trade.
During her time as secretary of state, from 2009 to 2013, Clinton was a strong supporter of the TPP. But at the same time, they say she must find ways to distinguish herself – and undercut Republican attacks that Clinton would simply be a third Obama term.
Of course, if she really thought currency manipulation was an essential part of the agreement, she probably shouldn’t have described the deal as the “gold standard in trade agreements” in the first place.
After months of hinting she might oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Hillary Clinton made it official this week.
When asked about Clinton’s decision to support a no-fly zone, Obama said: “Hillary Clinton is not half-baked in terms of her approach to these problems”.
On Wednesday, Clinton argued that those lemons had not, in fact, been turned into lemonade.
“As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it”, Clinton said.
Clinton thus faces a dilemma (as will Vice President Joe Biden if he decides to run).
In a November 2007 presidential debate, Clinton described the North American agreement, with Canada and Mexico, as “a mistake” and called for a “trade timeout”.
That’s after the presidential and congressional elections, and before the new Congress takes office.
It was also the economic underpinning of the so-called “pivot to Asia” that Clinton had championed as America’s top diplomat.
Biden’s support for the measure would draw scorn from a few Democrats, particularly labor activists and party progressives. And a liberal icon, Sen. No trade deal was going to include anything about currency manipulation.
Clinton’s opposition to it puts her on the side of Democratic presidential challenger Sanders, who is firmly against the deal and calls it “disastrous” for consumers and US job creation.
“Wow, that’s a reversal”, he said in Washington.
“I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it I; a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change and, unfortunately, from my perspective, one that interferes with our ability to move forward to deal with all the other issues”.
The accord was signed in Atlanta on Monday and has even received a cautious welcome from the Chinese, who are not now part of the deal.
“That’s a joke”, he quickly added, pointing to the press in the room.
Because of the timing – it will take trade negotiators several months to finish ironing out the final text and translating it into each participating country’s language – the Trans-Pacific Partnership likely won’t see votes on Capitol Hill until 2016, meaning the deal will only become more enmeshed in presidential politics.
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In the Republican party, populist forces – including the poll-leading Donald Trump – are denouncing the deal.
