Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) this morning called in to the Bill Press Show to discuss trade, opposition to TPA, and getting to yes on TPP. Excerpts from the show are below.
On getting to yes on TPP:
“I want a TPP. But it has to be done right. It has to be truly a major step forward. It has to shape trade, and not simply assume that it will all work out in the wash."
On the President’s attacks on Democrats:
“When he talks about anti-globalization - we have put together trade agreements. When he says we’re dedicated to the status quo, we’re the ones that really helped to shape the May 10th Agreement. And we’ve been active in trying to get other trade agreements correct. So I think that kind of attack is so wrong. It misrepresents what we’re all about.
“We’re not opposed to free trade. But we’re opposed to free trade if the assumption is that more trade is better and you don’t have to really shape it. What happens, if you buy that notion, you allow two economies to compete when one of them is essentially rigging the rules. We need a new notion as to how international economics works. It has to have standards built into it. And unfortunately, the Obama Administration labels those worried about it very incorrectly. Their approach is not a progressive approach in many respects."
On opposition to Hatch-Wyden-Ryan TPA bill:
“One of the really unfortunate aspects of this is that the Obama Administration went ahead and really did not address these key issues effectively, if at all. That’s true of Vietnam and labor. When [President Obama] said that TPP is going to cure NAFTA, that was only going to be true if you addressed issues in Mexico.
“The basic issue is this - for decades we have been trying to push the notion that more trade is not automatically better. We favor expanded trade. We’ve helped to shape trade agreements. But you have to shape their content to spread their benefits.
“I’m opposed to this TPA. I’m opposed to giving up our leverage. I want a TPP that I could vote for, that could have broad bipartisan support, as we’ve been able to get for some previous trade agreements. I’m hopeful that that can happen. The only way that we’re going to do that, unfortunately, is to defeat this TPA. But I think that would be a prelude to forcing these issues on the table - worker rights, ISDS, medicines, and other issues.
“There are negotiating objectives in the Hatch-Wyden bill - they’re meaningless. They’re a wish list. There’s no enforceability. The one to judge whether or not these very loose, vague objectives have been met are the people who are doing the negotiating. I haven’t given up hope that we can keep our leverage and force an agreement that can have broad support within the Democratic party."
