[CTC] Obama puts TPP trade deal at top of 2016 agenda

[Arthur Stamoulis]

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/263754-obama-puts-tpp-at-top-of-2016-agenda

Obama puts TPP trade deal at top of 2016 agenda

By Vicki Needham - 12/18/15 03:18 PM EST
President Obama expressed optimism at a Friday press conference that
Congress can approve a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal.

Obama called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) "a big deal" and
acknowledged that opponents in both parties make for “an interesting
situation."

He said the White House will need to "stitch together the same kind of
bipartisan effort" that helped his administration win a fight over
fast-track trade authority.

The president argued that the trade pact between the United States and 11
other nations meets the bar he set for the agreement and is consistent with
what he promised — major commitments on labor and the environment along
with the elimination of thousands of tariffs on U.S. exports. Obama
repeated his call that the TPP is the "most progressive trade deal in
history."

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis) said earlier this week that he wants to take a
vote as soon as possible on the expansive Pacific Rim trade agreement if
the pact lives up to the promises made by the White House.

He said he doesn't have a set date in mind but that the TPP is “very
important” and "has a lot of promise” because it gives the United States
the ability to write the rules of global trade in the fastest growing
region in the world.

Ryan's comments struck a different tone than Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.), who said last week that Obama would be making a "big
mistake" if he sought a vote on the TPP before the 2016 elections.

But Obama also said that a presidential election year can easily skew the
best-laid legislative plans with lawmakers "looking over their shoulders"
amid worries about the primaries.

"That makes it harder" to make strides on the agenda, he said.
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