This week, President Obama announced the completion of negotiations on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP, which is likely to drive down middle-class wages and increase offshoring and job loss, has been widely criticized by leading members of Congress from both parties. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Saunders, and other presidential candidates have announced their opposition…
Major U.S. business groups, citing internal frictions and uncertainty over the details of President Barack Obama’s 12-nation Pacific trade deal, are withholding their support for now, hobbling the administration’s early efforts to win congressional backing. [by William Mauldin | October 8, 2015 | Wall Street Journal] With big pharmaceutical companies and several other major…
The White House wants Congress to take up President Obama’s Pacific Rim trade deal long before next year’s lame-duck session, when some congressional aides say a vote is likely to take place [Reposted from The Hill | Jordan Fabian | October 15, 2015] “The timeline that we envision is shorter than that,” press secretary Josh…
Michael Froman, the US Trade Representative, is promoting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to a skeptical Congress with the lead claim that the deal will cut 18,000 tariffs. The implication is that the result will be American growth. But he does not claim US growth because that would be a lie. [by Michael Stumo |…
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended her opposition of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the first Democratic debate of the 2016 race. Clinton announced last week that she no longer supports the international trade deal, despite supporting it while serving as secretary of state — once calling it the “gold standard.” CNN anchor and debate moderator…
The past couple of debates that have aired live on TV have given us a glimpse of who is running and what they stand for. However, many can agree that the issues being discussed are insignificant and not real policy issues that truly affect Americans. One huge issue too overlooked from the Democratic debate…
Nine House Democrats late last week called on the Obama administration to release the negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement quickly, and vowed to fight for the defeat of the agreement in Congress. [Reposted from Inside US Trade | October 13, 2015] In their Oct. 9 press conference, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) signaled that the opponents…
The head of a key U.S. dairy industry group said last week that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal reached on Oct. 5 appears to have avoided the unbalanced dairy market access deal that U.S. producers had feared, though he stopped short of endorsing the agreement. [Reposted from Inside US Trade | October 13, 2015] “Based…
The Chinese economic slowdown story is so much bigger than it looks, and the U.S. steel industry is one sector that’s tired of taking it on the chin. But it isn’t a direct impact, and that’s what’s so frustrating for U.S. steel mills such as Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE), and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD). [Reposted from…
