Hillary Clinton confirms she won’t sign TPP deal if elected

Given the on-the-ground impact of previous trade pacts such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, caution on the part of the public is understandable.

The White House took an important procedural step toward putting the Trans-Pacific Partnership before Congress, one day after Hillary Clinton made clear that she would oppose congressional approval of the trade pact during a lame duck session.

Of course, it’s also worth reiterating the case for this deal in particular – and free trade in general. However, during her primary fight against Bernie Sanders, Clinton took a number of concrete positions that may force her to pursue protectionist policies to the detriment of the US economy.

Clinton explained her seemingly inconsistent positions in a 2005 speech to Congress: “The U.S. -Jordan Free Trade Agreement included internationally recognized enforceable labor standards in the text of the agreement”.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been given the formal kiss of death this morning, with Hillary Clinton saying she’ll will not sign up to it if she’s the next US President.

The TPP, Clinton told the crowd in Warren, is like other deals that take advantage of USA workers. Listen, she was in support of it.

Trump has repeatedly claimed a vote for Ms Clinton is a vote for the TPP.

Clinton also took those swipes at Trump, while pushing her own economic ideas as a contrast. As of now it appears Clinton will nearly certainly win the election – maybe even in a blowout.

Trump has also dismissed the TPP, which is still pending in the United States and other member nations, saying it would destroy USA manufacturing and make the United States subject to the rulings of foreign governments.

The RCEP is moving along at an accelerated pace because it is much less demanding than the TPP and is built on a number of existing frameworks, which makes it much more acceptable for regional actors looking for a beneficial free-trade solution.

Trump also accused China of currency cheating, product dumping and “having no real environmental or labour protections”.

The poll, released Thursday by Morning Consult, found that 35% of those surveyed support the deal, compared with just 26% when the firm last polled Americans on the deal in March.

Notice Clinton said “targeted tariffs”. After December 2016, this practice-which artificially inflates duties on imports from China for purely protectionist reasons-will be illegal under WTO rules.

However, focusing only on multilateral agreements, as Clinton does, obscures her overall voting record on trade pacts while serving in the Senate.

However – and this was not reflected in Clinton’s speech – Clinton actively voted for five bilateral trade deals during her tenure, namely Chile, Singapore, Australia, Morocco, and Oman.