Hillary Rodham Clinton declared her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord on Wednesday, marking her most significant break with President Barack Obama and the policies she once promoted as his chief diplomat.
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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”. But as a Democratic candidate for president, Clinton has faced pressure from the left to oppose the deal.
“We also discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership and we shared perspectives on Japan’s possible participation, because we think this holds out great economic opportunities to all participating nations”. A month ago, she took a stand in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, which the organization has not yet settled on.
But she also urged caution, reserved judgment and called for a “trade timeout” the last time she ran for president.
“We continue to have confidence we will be able to build a similar bipartisan majority” in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Earnest said.
The U.S. Trade Representative, which has led negotiations on the TPP, wanted 12 years of exclusivity for biologic pharmaceutical products in the deal, and was reportedly seeking that provision since 2011.
Much of the agreement was negotiated during her tenure as secretary of State, a period of time in which she was strongly and publicly supportive of the pact, calling it the “gold standard” of trade treaties at a point when it was less friendly to liberal causes than it is today.
“The risks are too high that, despite our best efforts, they will end up doing more harm than good for hardworking American families whose paychecks have barely budged in years“, her statement said. I know, when President Obama came into office, he inherited a trade agreement with South Korea.
Why the reversal? Two reasons: First, Clinton is trying to get back in the good graces of Big Labor – which has bailed on her due in no small part to her support for the controversial trade deal. “But the bar here is very high and, based on what I have seen, I don’t believe this agreement has met it”.
“To prevent irresponsible behavior on Wall Street from ever again devastating Main Street, we need more accountability, tougher rules, and stronger enforcement”.
Clinton said her plan would focus on more than banks, taking into account any kind of financial institution that causes disruption in the marketplace.
She would also look into increasing the maximum penalties that can be levied by regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to the outline of her plan.
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As a presidential candidate she has used more hedging language, for example saying she has “some concerns”, and now she has said she outright doesn’t support the deal as it stands.
