[CTC] McConnell says White House will need GOP to pass Trans-Pacific Partnership, wary of potential carve-outs

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Two articles below…

 
McConnell says White House will need GOP to pass Trans-Pacific Partnership, wary of potential carve-outs
CN2
 
By Nick Storm
August 19, 2015
http://mycn2.com/politics/mcconnell-says-white-house-will-need-gop-to-pass-tans-pacific-partnership-wary-of-potential-carve-outs <http://mycn2.com/politics/mcconnell-says-white-house-will-need-gop-to-pass-tans-pacific-partnership-wary-of-potential-carve-outs>
 
GEORGETOWN — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated his wariness of potential carve-outs to a major multinational trade deal being negotiated in the Pacific Rim.
 
Speaking to Pure Politics and other reporters in Georgetown on Monday, McConnell said that he is “concerned about what the final deal may look like,” referring to the potential exclusion of tobacco from the agreement. McConnell said he is also wary of a climate-change carve-out in the trade deal.
 
As Pure Politics has previously reported, McConnell sent a letter in late July to Ambassador Michael Froman, the top trade representative in President Barack Obama’s administration, calling on tobacco to be protected in the 12-nation trade deal.
 
When reporting on the issue in July, Kentucky Farm Bureau Commodities Director Joe Cain told Pure Politics that no single legal commodity should be kept from a free-trade agreement. Cain said KFB worries of the possible slippery slope created by singling out one industry.
 
If tobacco was cut from the trade deal, it would have a major impact on Kentucky farmers. Eighty percent of Kentucky tobacco is exported. In 2013, the commodity was worth $300 million in exports.
 
McConnell, R-Ky., has previously written Froman twice on the subject of protecting tobacco in the negotiated deal, once in 2012 and again in 2013.
 
On Monday, McConnell told reporters that he “made it clear to the ambassador they’re going to need a lot of Republicans, even with a simple majority, to pass this TPP.”
 
With the passage of Trade Promotion Authority legislation earlier this year, once a negotiated deal is offered to Congress it can only receive an up-or-down vote.
 
While McConnell said he has concerns over the details, he said he would wait to see “what the deal looks like” when asked by Pure Politics if a carve-out meant he would block the trade deal.
 
“What I would point out — not many Democrats are going to vote for it, so they really need the Republicans on-board to pass it,” McConnell said.
 
McConnell explained to the Scott County Chamber of Commerce on Monday that he worked with Obama to pass Trade Promotion Authority because it will be in place after Obama leaves office.
 
Kentucky Republican candidate for agriculture commissioner Ryan Quarles has also been keeping a close eye on the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, warning of a potential tobacco carve-out and the effect that could have on the state.
 
Quarles’ Democratic opponent, Jean-Marie Lawson Spann, told Pure Politics at Fancy Farm that the TPP deal and the EPA were Republican scare tactics used to raise campaign cash.
 

 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/18/mcconnell-tobacco-should-not-be-excluded-from-trad/ <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/18/mcconnell-tobacco-should-not-be-excluded-from-trad/>
 
 
McConnell: Tobacco should not be excluded from trade pact
 
Washington Times
By Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press
August 18, 2015
 
SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled Tuesday that the inclusion of anti-tobacco language in a Pacific Rim trade deal being negotiated could influence his stance on a potential agreement covering nearly 40 percent of the global economy.
 
The Kentucky Republican also said climate change should not surface as an issue in the trade talks involving a dozen nations.
 
As the Senate’s top-ranking leader, McConnell will wield considerable influence when a trade deal comes up for a Senate vote.
 
In a rare show of teamwork, McConnell recently sided with President Barack Obama to give the president greater authority to negotiate trade deals. The bill gives Congress the right to approve or reject trade agreements but not change them.
 
McConnell is a free-trade advocate, but indicated that how tobacco and coal are treated would be factors in weighing a trade deal.
 
“I’ve said to the trade negotiator that carve-outs for commodities that the administration doesn’t like are a bad idea,” McConnell said Tuesday after a speech in Shelbyville. “And I hope they won’t do that. I’ve also expressed my opposition to try to turn the trade deal into some kind of climate change agenda, given the depression we have in the coalfields. So we’ll see what the final deal looks like. I hope it’s one I can support.”
 
Trade ministers from the Pacific Rim nations are trying to reach an agreement aimed at erasing most tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment among participants.
 
McConnell sees trade deals as benefiting Kentucky manufacturing and agriculture.
 
While touting trade, he defended two historic Kentucky commodities that are in decline.
 
Export markets have become increasingly important for the tobacco industry as U.S. consumption has dropped sharply amid health concerns. Kentucky is the nation’s top producer of burley tobacco, an ingredient in many cigarettes.
 
Joe Cain, commodity director for the Kentucky Farm Bureau, said a majority of Kentucky burley is shipped overseas. Any trade deal failing to protect U.S. tobacco would hurt the state’s remaining leaf farmers, he said.
 
“If it’s a legal commodity, it needs to be treated fairly,” Cain said.
 
McConnell recently urged U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to allow tobacco to have the same export potential as other ag products.
 
“I’ve made it very clear to the ambassador that they’re going to need a lot of Republicans, even with a simple majority, to pass” the Pacific Rim trade deal, McConnell said Monday in Georgetown, Kentucky. “So we’re watching it very closely.”
 
Burley, once a $1 billion crop in Kentucky, now generates about $300 million a year for the state’s growers.
 
Meanwhile, Kentucky coal producers could look to overseas markets as domestic use declines.
 
“Overseas markets could offer new opportunities for Kentucky coal, especially as so many emerging and traditional economies are burning more and more coal for electricity,” said Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett.
 
The state’s eastern coalfields have been reeling from sharp declines in production and mining jobs. The downturn has come as Appalachian coal businesses have faced higher production costs and competition from other coal basins and natural gas.
 
Coal supporters blame tougher environmental regulations by Obama’s administration for the industry’s slump.
 
 
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