[CTC] IUST: Industry Reps Say Anti-Trade Sentiment Makes TPP Approval Uncertain

[Dolan, Mike]

Daily News
Industry Reps Say Anti-Trade Sentiment Makes TPP Approval Uncertain
March 31, 2016
The intense anti-trade sentiment of the presidential campaign is putting in doubt the congressional approval of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), according to two private-sector lobbyists backing the deal.

Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said on March 30 that the depth of the criticism targeting the current trade model is unprecedented and makes the approval of TPP "far from certain."  He spoke at a breakfast for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key hosted by the Chamber, the Coalition for TPP and the U.S.-New Zealand Council.

At a different event that same day, James Fatheree, executive director for Japan and Korea at the Chamber, signaled the TPP may not get the congressional support necessary to pass even if the administration addresses the complaints raised by the pharmaceutical and financial services industries.

That is because members fear the potential job losses resulting from TPP would have to be addressed with better employment skill training programs than those provided by the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, he said. Fatheree is the Chamber's co-lead in its role as executive coordinator of the Coalition for TPP.

"[B]ecause the debate over trade outside of Washington does not center on specific, technical issues but instead focuses generally on free trade's impact on employment, members of Congress will need to create programs more expansive than [TAA]" to grapple with the issue, he said.

Fatheree was responding to a question on whether opposition to free trade writ large would overwhelm any positive consideration members of Congress may give TPP if the administration resolves outstanding complaints. He spoke at a discussion on TPP hosted by the Georgetown University Business School on Capitol Hill.

"[TAA is] a drop in the bucket in terms of what we need" to address potential job fallout from TPP, Fatheree said. "The question is, can we design programs that will train people fast enough, and I think that's a major, major challenge."

"So I think for those us that are pro-trade advocates, and I count myself as a very strong one, I think those are the kind of things that we all have to start to think about," he said.

He said it is the wrong approach to respond to job losses from trade agreements by "trashing a trade agreement that has benefits or by trashing trade in general because it has been good for the economy overall and it's been good for the world overall for the last 50 or 60 years."

In his comments, Brilliant warned against the consequences of Congress rejecting the TPP, including a chance at a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with China.

"If we don't get TPP done, we don't get to that broader agenda; whether it's [the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership], the BIT with China, all the other issues that are being discussed," Brilliant said. "It starts this year with TPP passing - not a certainty - but we hope [Prime Minister Key's] visit here will remind our friends in Washington what's at stake and why it's important."

But he acknowledged that garnering enough support for TPP will be difficult since it is being considered amid an environment ripe with political backlash towards free trade more intense than that which has appeared in previous political cycles.

The "depth of [this sentiment] is somewhat unique, and those of us who've been in this business - I've been in it over 25 years and many other people in this room have been in it a long time as well -- are concerned about where we're heading as a country," Brilliant said.




Michael F. Dolan, J.D.
Legislative Representative
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Desk  202.624.6891
Fax    202.624.8973
Cell    202.437.2254

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