Former DNC Chairs Call on Lawmakers to Back TPP
Five former Democratic National Committee chairmen urged lawmakers to back implementation legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in an open letter released in recent days (here). Those former officials include Don Fowler, Paul Kirk, Ed Rendell, Roy Romer and David Wilhelm. A TPP pact will open critical new markets for U.S. exports and put in place regulatory requirements that benefit U.S. companies, said the letter. “The deal eliminates 18,000 foreign taxes on American goods and services — a huge step forward to ensuring that American businesses have a chance to play by the same rules as foreign businesses,” it said, repeating a common argument made by U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman since TPP negotiations wrapped up on Oct. 5.
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U.S. workers will benefit in particular from the pact through labor and other mandates, the letter said while cautioning that TPP countries will have to deliver on reforms. “To receive the benefits of the TPP, partner countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Mexico will have to implement serious labor reforms that provide new rights to collective bargaining, a minimum wage, workplace safety, and maximum hours worked, and ban forced labor, child labor, and employment discrimination,” said the letter. “The TPP is the largest expansion of enforceable labor rights ever and will quadruple the number of workers protected abroad, but these protections will also benefit American workers who will now compete on a more level playing field.”