Trade expert: new US president could be trouble for TPP

  • 14/03/2016
Trade expert: new US president could be trouble for TPP

A Kiwi trade expert believes Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal for the sake of picking up more votes.

The Republican and Democrat frontrunners both made strong statements yesterday against the trade agreement, which is yet to be ratified by its 12 member countries, including New Zealand.

Stephen Jacobi from the New Zealand International Business Forum says he suspects they're playing to an audience.

"This has nothing to do with trade, this has everything to do with the US political race," he says. "They're in the mid-west, which believes it has been suffering from trade, so they're articulating their messages accordingly."

Mr Jacobi says a Trump or Clinton presidency could spell trouble for the future of the TPP unless it's ratified while Barack Obama is still president.

Newshub.