The candidate’s position has been called into question this week.
To TPP or not to TPP? That is the question.
The TPP is the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that President Obama has been tirelessly trying to complete with 12 Pacific Rim nations. It is another in a long line of trade agreements the United States has entered into since the implementation of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement in 1994.
But times have changed. American workers are aware now, more than ever, what these trade agreements have done to U.S. manufacturing and the well-paying, middle-class jobs American manufacturers provide.
America has lost approximately 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2001 and much of the blame has been laid at the feet of these agreements. Yes, America needs trade in an undeniably global economy, but it needs deals that benefit American business and its employees.
At the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, the TPP has become the talk of the town.
Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton called the TPP the “gold standard” of trade agreements while serving as President Obama’s Secretary of State, but has now said she opposes the deal because the language does not meet her standards of protecting American workers. Her Vice Presidential nominee, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, was advocating his support of the TPP as recently as last Thursday but has now said he no longer supports the deal.
Larry Cohen, a former president of the Communication Workers of America, served as a close adviser to Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. He said he was disappointed in the lack of strong anti-TPP language in the party’s official platform.
“They should have been more explicit in the platform regarding the TPP," Cohen told AAM. "Without that explicit language, there’s a big risk of losing states like Michigan and Ohio. Indiana is a lost cause.”
So is Clinton’s switch on the TPP simply a move of political expedience?
It is difficult to be sure at this point, but Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a close Clinton ally, muddied the picture this week.
“She’s against it, will stay against it, always has been." Terry McAuliffe
Speaking at a United Steelworkers (USW) luncheon in Philly on Wednesday, McAuliffe quickly turned to the TPP — after his remarks following his Tuesday night convention speech were construed to mean Clinton could change her opinion on the TPP after she is elected president.
“First of all, Hillary is against TPP and she is always going to stay against TPP. Let me by crystal clear about that,” said McAuliffe. “I’m all for trade deals. I think (the TPP) is great. But if a trade deal doesn’t protect workers’ rights and increase jobs, then we shouldn’t do them.
“But if you can get me, as governor, a trade deal where I’ve got 11 plants here where our workers are competing against China, Korea, or Japan or any of these countries, are you kidding me? I will beat their brains in every single day of the week. But I need a fair trade deal to do it. I welcome competing with those countries around the globe.”
Certainly Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, who both vigorously oppose the TPP, influenced Clinton’s campaign-trail change of heart. But McAuliffe seemed to leave the door open as to whether another Democratic administration will continue to pursue Obama’s Asian pivot.
AAM caught up with McAuliffe as he was leaving the USW luncheon and asked the Democratic party stalwart about Clinton and the TPP.
“She’s against it, will stay against it, always has been,” said McAuliffe. “She’s not for it in its present form, but if they can get in and fix it where it works for workers, great. But if they can’t do it, she’s against it.”
Make of this what you will but it brings to mind Groucho Marx in the Marx Brothers movie “Horse Feathers.” As Quincy Adams Wagstaff, president of Huxley College, Marx leads the faculty in singing “Whatever it is, I’m against it.”
Well, whatever it is, in this case it’s the TPP. And unless changes are made to address currency manipulation and overcapacity, the TPP deserves some skepticism.