Food producers welcome TPP text

“Other countries, such as China, are already moving forward with deals that don’t reflect our interests and our values”. The TPP is a continuation of our disastrous trade policies that have devastated manufacturing cities and towns all over this country from Newton, Iowa, to Cleveland, Ohio.

How does this deal compare with others, like NAFTA?

President Obama singled out Detroit automakers as being helped by a Pacific Rim trade deal which was released in detail on last week, but at least one – Ford Motor – complained it still doesn’t go far enough to address currency manipulation.

The National Pork Producers Council, for example, long supported the deal but said it would reserve judgement until final text was available.

Japan has pledged to ease trade barriers on imported french fries and butter, which have been in short supply in the Asian market, while Malaysia will eliminate tariffs on all imported alcohol for the first time in a trade agreement.

With the threat of trade sanctions, TPP countries are required to ban child labor and employment discrimination and give workers the right to form unions.

“An initial reading of the TPP reveals that New Zealand will profit significantly from the cutting of extremely high tariffs now imposed on many of our exports”.

To start with, critics are unconvinced of the labor standards Obama was eager to tout.

“We’re losing votes as we speak for no good reason”, he told reporters. They are also not the ones employing the very people who rely on exporters finding an extra order or two to continue paying wages and tax.

Sifton said he doubted the United States would “have the desire and the will to enforce the terms of the agreement”.

Hatch said failing to secure 12 years’ protection for next-generation biological drugs could make it hard for innovators to recoup investment in new products, drive companies out of the industry and leave American consumers subsidizing cheaper medicines in other countries.

What’s the likely economic impact? Cane growers can sell a little bit more to the USA, under the TPP, but the additional 65,000 tonnes secured is nowhere near what they were pleading with the Government to get.

There is also a special feature for Vietnam, linking improved access to the United States market for cotton trousers to the purchase of US-made cotton fabric.

“We are organizing a series of in-depth public hearings to assess the merits of the proposed agreement, zeroing in on those issues that are of particular importance or concern to us and our fellow Democratic colleagues”, Levin said in a statement on Wednesday. “Soon after this period expires, we expect partner countries will meet to sign the text”, says Mr Groser.

Even if Obama is gung-ho on the deal, prominent fellow Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have strongly opposed the TPP as it now stands.