Asia-Pacific nations set to sign Trans-Pacific
Partnership in New Zealand
(Vatican Radio) Trade
Ministers from twelve Asia-Pacific nations are set to sign the Trans-Pacific
Partnership in Auckland, New Zealand. The White House has advocated for the
deal, saying it has clear economic benefits.
Congressional leaders are
looking at the Trans Pacific Partnership with a skeptical eye. Following a
meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan,
and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnel, the lawmakers there are concerns
about the TPP that must be address before final approval.
White House spokesman Josh
Earnest said, "It's a complicated process. We are not yet at a place where
the President has forwarded the agreement to Congress for their
ratification".
The agreement covers about 26
percent of global trade and upwards of 40 percent of American imports and
exports alone. The Obama administration has said, the TPP is "centerpiece
of America's economic rebalancing and can help boost regional integration.
But development experts say,
actually, it's unlikely the average American will feel any impact of the TPP
once it's ratified.
Kimberly Elliott, with the
Center for Global development, said, "I think from the perspective of the
overall US economy, the TPP will probably not even be discernable in terms of
its economic effects. There will be some sectoral effects, some job losses in
some sectors and some gains in some other sectors, but the overall impact will,
I think, be quite small."
The deal took months of
intricate negotiations with each of the 12 nations concerned about specific
sectors such as Canadian timber and dairy or Japanese cars or labor practices
in Vietnam.
Jeffery Schott of the
Peterson Instititue for International Economics thinks on balance, the TPP is a
good thing. "Now that doesn't mean that everybody will benefit. On
balance, it's a big positive but for some communities, some industries, there
will be more competition and net losses, for some workers as well."
And groups such as the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce - which represents America's largest industries support the
deal even as Congressional lawmakers aren't so sure.
With recurring criticism that
the deal was negotiated for the most part in secret the White House is
emphasizing the next step is allowing for plenty of public comment in the U.S.
Josh Earnest said,
"After that there are a couple of other steps before Congress has an
opportunity to consider it. So, I'm not standing up here and suggesting that
Congress should act tomorrow to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but what I
am saying is that once we go through this process and that there has been an
opportunity for the public to carefully consider what's included in the
agreement, that we would like to see Congress act quickly on it."
President Obama would like
the U.S. Congress to finish it's part of the formalization of the treaty before
lawmakers head home to campaign for re-election, in early July.
But political watchers here
in Washington think, the most likely time the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be
fully approved in the US is in November
after the national elections.
after the national elections.
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