WASHINGTON, DC - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI), who described in detail a year ago changes required in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to gain his support and broad bipartisan support, today released a statement in opposition to TPP - a trade agreement between the United States and 11 other countries in the Pacific Rim region that accounts for 40 percent of the world’s GDP.
KEY EXCERPTS
“My main concern is how TPP might impact jobs and the livelihood of American workers. We have lost millions of good jobs as other nations have competed against us unfairly."
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“In 2007, when House Democrats took the Majority, we set a new course for U.S. trade policy. That new policy recognized that as we expand international trade we must raise international standards, not engage in a race to the bottom. We developed what became known as the May 10th Agreement. For the first time, strong and fully-enforceable labor and environmental standards were incorporated into our trade agreements on equal footing with every other commercial provision. And we recognized the need to make clear that our trade agreements are not intended to grant foreign investors greater substantive rights under U.S. law than U.S. investors have. We also worked to find an appropriate balance between protection of intellectual property rights and access to affordable medicines, particularly in developing nations."
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“TPP as negotiated falls short of an acceptable outcome, and I cannot support it. There are four key areas - worker rights, currency manipulation, the rules of origin, and investment - where the results are wholly inadequate. There are other issues where I had urged our negotiators to reach a stronger conclusion than they did in the final agreement, including access to medicines, environmental standards, and state-owned enterprises."
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“Trade touches all aspects of our lives, and we are setting an economic framework for generations. We cannot afford to lock in weak standards, uncompetitive practices, and a system that does not spread the benefits of trade, affecting the paychecks of American families."
“To not get it right is to get it wrong. And this TPP as negotiated is not right for America."
Rep. Levin’s full statement can be found on Medium here.
BACKGROUND RESOURCES
Report: The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Path Forward to an Effective Agreement
Forums: Trading Views: A series of in-depth forums on key issues in TPP
Blog Series: TPP In Focus: A blog series on key issues in TPP
ITC Testimony: Rep. Levin Testimony at ITC TPP Hearing, January 2016
