Many progressives have been wondering where Hillary Clinton stands on the TPP trade agreement that President Obama passed, and today she came out against it.
Just days after the U.S. and 11 nations released a monumental trade deal that still faces a fight in Congress, Hillary Clinton says she does not support the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Speaking with Judy Woodruff Wednesday, the Democratic presidential candidate said that as of today, given what she knows of the deal, it does not meet her bar for creating jobs, raising wages for Americans and advancing national security.
Speaking at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, as part of a two-day swing through the leadoff caucus state, Clinton said that she’s worried “about currency manipulation not being part of the agreement” and that “pharmaceutical companies may have gotten more benefits and patients fewer.”
“As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it,” Clinton said, later adding, “I don’t believe it’s going to meet the high bar I have set.”
The Trans Pacific Partnership is the largest regional trade agreement in history. The U.S., Japan and 10 other nations finished crafting a deal Monday that cuts trade barriers, sets labor and environmental standards and protects multinational corporations’ intellectual property. But the accord still faces a battle in Congress, which has 90 days to review the agreement before voting on it. The deal faces a lower legislative hurdle than most proposals in Congress. Under so-called “fast-track” authority approved by Congress, the president may propose trade deals and have them approved on a simple majority vote, rather than the usual 60 votes required in the U.S. Senate.
As a former member of Obama's cabinet, he won't be happy about this, but she's staking out her own positions as the primaries continue on. Recently she also came out against the XL pipeline.
