TPP is the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It’s ready for
ratification, but President Trump campaigned vigorously on opposing it. The
trade agreement became so toxic that Hillary Clinton reversed her support of
it.
Michael Froman is the now-retired U.S. Trade Representative
who led negotiations for the U.S.
Here is a summary of his speech in June 2016 to the Council
on Foreign Relations:
What is TPP? A trade agreement among 12 countries
representing about 40 percent of the global economy.
What does TPP do? “The agreement eliminates traditional
trade barriers, like tariffs—18,000 tariffs on American exports; completely
eliminates tariffs on manufactured products; eliminates, or greatly reduces, or
opens up markets to a wide range of agricultural trade as well.”
What does TPP do for labor and the environment? “The
agreement raises labor and environmental standards around the world to the
highest level ever, and these are fully enforceable standards; that it’s the
first trade agreement to really take on the digital economy, issues around
e-commerce and the free flow of data across borders; pushing back on new forms
of digital protectionism, with countries trying to put walls around the
internet or require companies to move their infrastructure to a country in
order to serve that country. It takes a major step forward in putting
disciplines on state-owned enterprises, so that when government-owned
corporations compete with our private firms, they have to do so on a fair and
level playing field or we can impose sanctions on that country."
Why is TPP important? “And so it’s very important because
this region, the Asia-Pacific region, it’s currently about a billion
middle-class consumers, expected to grow to 3 billion middle-class consumers by
2030, some of the largest, fastest growing economies in the world. We need to
be part of those markets. And we want to make sure that the rules of the road
for that region reflect our interests and our values, and that we’re not ceding
that role to others, whether it’s China or others. And so that’s why it’s so
important that we get it done, and that we get it done this year.”
In recent days, China has said it wishes to step in with
these Asian nations and take America’s place as a TPP partner (with its own rules). China, under
Obama’s leadership, had been excluded from TPP. This was Obama’s method for
challenging China, rather than confronting the "One China" policy.
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