Trade-supportive Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said the next administration will have to work hard to shore up relations in the Asia-Pacific region because there appears to be little chance of passing the TPP this year.
[Adam Behsudi | July 29, 2016 |Politico]
“I’ll take your presumption that TPP is dead for the rest of this Congress and this administration,” the Delaware Democrat said in response to a question at a POLITICO event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Thursday. “There’s going to be a lot of work to do, a lot of very hard work to do, because a lot of our vital allies did extend themselves and did take significant risks and a huge amount of investment was made in negotiations.”
Coons, who voted last year to give President Barack Obama trade promotion authority to finish the TPP, said he believes the administration’s strongest argument for approval of the agreement is how it would improve U.S. national security by responding to China’s increasing dominance in the region.
“I think this is going to have to be one of the top foreign policies of the next administration: re-engaging and reassuring and working with these allies to make sure that they don’t come away with the impression that we’ve abandoned globalization,” Coons said.
