Hillary Clinton, who is a near certainty to run for the Democrat’s next Presidential primary, has spoken out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, urging Democratic congress members not to grant President Obama so-called “fast track authority” to conclude negotiations without gaining a better deal for US workers.
Fast track authority would allow the President to sign the TPP and have it voted up or down in Congress without amendment, and is considered a pre-requisite for the other 11 member nations signing on to any deal.
As noted yesterday, the House vote to grant fast track authority was effectively voted down on Friday, with Democrats voting 40 in favour to 144 against the bill that would have given financial aid to workers that lose their jobs as a result of US trade deals with other countries.
And since the worker assistance package was tied to fast track authority becoming law, the whole package remains “stuck” in the House, and needs to be voted on again.
Importantly, Mrs Clinton yesterday sided with the House’s minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, who has led the opposition to President Obama and the TPP.
Clinton noted that Pelosi and her colleagues had “expressed their concerns about the impact a weak agreement would have on our workers” and argued that “if we don’t get (the strongest deal possible) there should be no deal”.
Given her high standing amongst Democrats, her growing resistance to the TPP is likely to reaffirm their opposition, making it even less likely that the President will receive the fast track authority necessary to conclude the TPP negotiations.
Therefore, the TPP looks to have gone the way of the dodo. Good riddance, I say.
