US President Barack Obama says a Chinese-led regional trade deal demonstrates the urgent need for the US Congress to approve the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.
Obama has been pushing to finalise the TPP before he leaves office on January 20, but he needs to overcome strong anti-trade sentiment from both the left wing of his own Democratic Party as well as from the right of the Republican Party.
Voter anxiety over the impact of trade deals on jobs and the environment has featured large in the campaigns of Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner for the November 8 presidential election, and US Senator Bernie Sanders, who is running against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
In an opinion piece published on the website of the Washington Post yesterday, Obama said he understood voter scepticism but that "building walls to isolate ourselves from the global economy" would backfire on the American economy.
"China is negotiating a trade deal that would carve up some of the fastest-growing markets in the world at our expense, putting American jobs, businesses and goods at risk," Obama said in the piece.
Obama was referring to the 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, and noted that China was seeking to finalise the deal by the end of the year.
"That trade deal won't prevent unfair competition among government-subsidised, state-owned enterprises. It won't protect a free and open internet," Obama says, also criticising the RCEP's lack of protections for intellectual property, labour standards and the environment.
Obama, who plans a visit to TPP partners Japan and Vietnam later this month, argued the TPP would allow America to "call the shots" on trade with Asia.
"That's why my administration is working closely with leaders in congress to secure bipartisan approval for our trade agreement, mindful that the longer we wait, the harder it will be to pass the TPP," he says.
Reuters
