[CTC] TPP Is Deplored By Democrats On Convention’s First Night

[Arthur Stamoulis]

TPP Is Deplored By Democrats On Convention’s First Night
Inside US Trade
July 26, 2016
 
Mild protests over the Trans-Pacific Partnership broke out from time to time last night at the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia, but from the podium the speakers were united in their opposition to the deal.

Sens. Jeff Merkley (OR), Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Bernie Sanders (VT) all made brief mentions of trade in their speeches, with Sanders – a leading critic of TPP – urging Democrats to “make sure that TPP does not get to the floor of the Congress in the lame-duck session.”

The line received thunderous applause, as did nearly everything Sanders said – except when he endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. Many Sanders supporters were loud in their opposition to Clinton throughout the night, and a few vocal protesters were heard chanting against TPP during convention speeches.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (MD), notably, had to speak over anti-TPP protesters during his appearance.

Merkley implored the party to “to fight for trade policies that put American workers first, which means, as Hillary has said, we must say no to bad trade deals, and that includes the TPP.”

And Warren said the U.S. “should never, never sign trade deals that help giant corporations but leave workers in the dirt. Hillary will fight for American workers and we're with her.”

As our Jenny Leonard reported on Monday, the final party platform introduced last night “does not mention discrepancies within the Democratic Party on the Trans-Pacific Partnership that were laid out in a July 1 draft platform, and falls short of taking an official stance on the deal.”

The final platform -- just like the draft version -- says the U.S. should “never enter into a trade agreement that prevents our government, or other governments, from putting in place rules that protect the environment, food safety, or the health of American citizens or others around the world.”

Without elaborating on specific deals, the document says that those conditions apply to all agreements -- which it makes clear does not exclude the TPP.

“These are the standards Democrats believe must be applied to all trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” the platform says. It was released on July 21, ahead of this week's party convention in Philadelphia.

In comparison, the draft platform pointed out that not all Democrats agree on that deal.

“On the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), there are a diversity of views in the party,” the July 1 document said. “Many Democrats are on record stating that the agreement does not meet the standards set out in this platform; other Democrats have expressed support for the agreement. But all Democrats believe that any trade agreement must protect workers and the environment and not undermine access to critically-needed prescription drugs.”
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.citizenstrade.org/pipermail/ctcfield-citizenstrade.org/attachments/20160726/95795538/attachment.htm>