Mike Pence vice presidential campaign, 2016/Trans-Pacific Partnership
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
President Barack Obama's push to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal in 2016 was resisted by the 2016 presidential candidates in both major parties. Hillary Clinton (D) and Donald Trump (R) opposed the deal, arguing that it would hurt American workers. Green Party candidate Jill Stein (G) also opposed the deal for similar reasons. Gary Johnson (L) was the only candidate in the race who said he would sign the TPP because it would "advance free trade."[1]
Obama and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman countered the anti-TPP sentiment on the campaign trail, arguing that the 12-nation trade deal would create new jobs by opening up foreign markets for exporting goods and set minimum standards for working conditions in the 11 other nations, leveling the playing field in the global market. They argued that the deal would seek to promote trade and strengthen the relationships between the 12 nations by reducing and eliminating tariffs, fostering competition, and creating greater opportunities for businesses. Froman and Obama also said that the countries involved had agreed to promote environmental protection practices and enforce laws protecting workers, in order to reassure those who opposed the deal due to environmental and human rights concerns.[2][3]
In a split from Obama, former 2016 presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D) rallied his supporters to urge the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to include language in their platform rejecting the TPP, but his efforts were unsuccessful. CNN reporter Eric Bradner wrote, "By keeping specific opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership out of the platform, Democrats avoided embarrassing President Barack Obama."[4] Although the DNC's decision was a disappointment to Sanders, he, along with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), continued to spearhead efforts in the Senate to get their colleagues to vote against Obama's trade deal.
The DNC's decision also opened up "Clinton and other Democrats to questions about whether their opposition to the Pacific Rim pact is sincere," according to Bradner. Clinton, who supported the trade deal as secretary of state, but changed her mind after she read the final deal, faced scrutiny about how she would handle the trade deal if she were elected, and much of that criticism came from Trump.[4]
Trump, who broke "with decades of Republican orthodoxy" in his opposition to the TPP, repeatedly tied Clinton to the trade deal in an attempt to win the votes of displaced American workers. In January 2016, Trump said, "I will stop Hillary’s Obamatrade in its tracks, bringing millions of new voters into the Republican Party. We will move manufacturing jobs back to the United States and we will Make America Great Again.”[5][6]
See below what Mike Pence and the 2016 Republican Party Platform said about the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
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Pence on the Trans-Pacific Partnership
- During an interview with Laura Ingraham on July 28, 2016, Mike Pence explained why he no longer supported the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Pence said, "Throughout my career I have strongly supported free trade in measures that came before the Congress, and when I was asked to support free trade initiatives as the governor of Indiana, I supported them. But, frankly, we're on the verge of electing one of the best negotiators in the world as President of the United States of America, and as Donald and I sat down and talked, he talked to me about questioning the wisdom of these multi-country trade agreements – that, when they're not working out the way NAFTA is clearly not working out, they're very difficult to unwind. He said to me, you know, look – he's for free trade, I'm for free trade deals on a country by country basis. Let's work out deals that work for the people of the United States. I'm completely convinced that there is wisdom in that. Let's deal with countries individually. With the TPP, you know, it feels a little bit like Obamacare. You remember when Nancy Pelosi said, 'We've got to pass this bill so we can find out what's in it.'"[7][8]
- On April 10, 2015, Pence sent a letter to Indiana's congressional delegation asking them to vote for trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, and the The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). He wrote, "As you know, my administration has made job growth job number one. We passed the largest state tax cut in Indiana history, lowered the corporate income tax, reduced the regulatory burden, and have taken numerous other measures to improve the business environment and the education and workforce skills of Hoosiers. Those are things we can do at home, but reducing tariffs and other trade barriers so that Indiana businesses can enjoy increased market access and fairly compete on the world stage is something that Congress must do. I encourage your support for Trade Promotion Authority, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and any other trade-related measures when they are brought before the Congress for consideration."[9]
- On September 8, 2014, Pence tweeted: "Trade means jobs, but trade also means security. The time has come for all of us to urge the swift adoption of the Trans Pacific Partnership."[10]
| The 2016 Republican Party Platform on international trade | ||||||
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Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ CNN, "Gary Johnson: Trump says 'racist' things and should be disqualified from presidency," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Office of the United States Trade Representative, "The Trans-Pacific Partnership," accessed February 3, 2016
- ↑ Medium.com, "The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Preamble," accessed February 3, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 CNN, "In platform fight, Sanders loses on trade but wins on minimum wage," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Business Insider, "Donald Trump is staring down decades of Republican Party orthodoxy on a signature issue," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Breitbart, "Exclusive — Donald J. Trump Makes the Case that Electing Him President Is the Only Way to Stop Obamatrade," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ LifeZette, "Pence Says Trump Will Kill TPP," accessed August 16, 2016
- ↑ KSGF.com, "Free trade warrior Mike Pence now 'questions the wisdom' of TPP, NAFTA," accessed August 16, 2016
- ↑ Indiana.gov, "Governor Pence Urges Congressional Delegation to Support Trade Promotion Authority and Trade Agreements," accessed May 13, 2015
- ↑ Twitter, "Mike Pence," accessed August 16, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Republican Party, "The 2016 Republican Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
