Obama Plans to Send TPP Legislation to Congress This Year
The Obama Administration will send Trans-Pacific Partnership-enacting legislation to Congress sometime this year, President Barack Obama said on Feb. 22 during a reception of the National Governors Association in Washington, according to remarks transcribed by the White House (here). Obama called on the governors to reach out to local industries in their states’ U.S. Congressional delegations to convey the importance of the agreement. “We’re going to sign to enter this agreement, presented formally with some sort of implementation documents to Congress at some point this year,” Obama stated.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The president characterized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as “supportive” of the deal, despite concerns including McConnell’s opposition to the tobacco provisions. But Obama also acknowledged that labor unions have fought TPP, saying he’ll have to depend on both predictable free-market Republicans as well as “strong, pro-trade Democrats who recognize the importance of trade” to push the pact through Congress. Several in Obama’s party, including Ways and Means Ranking Member Sandy Levin, Mich., Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Conn., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio, have publicly stated their opposition toward the agreement.
Obama said NAFTA spurred much of the current opposition toward TPP, as the 1990s-era agreement resulted in many jobs shipped overseas, but he said the Pacific pact will be different. “None of the critics of this trade deal have described for me how we’re better off with the current status quo, where those folks are all keeping tariffs high, than we would be with TPP,” Obama said. “What they argue against is old trade deals. And I keep on explaining to them, “Look, I can’t do anything about what may have happened 40, 30 years ago, but I can do something about what’s going on right now.’” He added that American companies and workers will be “indisputably” better off under TPP than without it.