The White House yesterday warned the US Congress that delaying ratifying a vast trans-Pacific trade deal would cost the US economy.
Ahead of the formal signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), US Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman expressed confidence that Congress would endorse the deal in coming months, despite the US presidential campaign that has made trade issues a frequent hot potato.
The deal between 12 Pacific Rim countries is scheduled to be signed at 11:30am today in Auckland, New Zealand.
The ambitious pact — agreed in October last year after marathon negotiations in Atlanta, Georgia — aims to break down trade and investment barriers between countries comprising about 40 percent of the global economy.
However, the signing will come with barely a year left in the term of its principal proponent, US President Barack Obama, and many speculate that US lawmakers will not want to risk alienating voters by approving it ahead of the national elections in November.
However, Froman said that putting off ratification would come with costs.
“After five years of negotiation, signing the TPP is an important milestone in our efforts to set high-standard rules of the road in the Asia Pacific region ... and to deliver an agreement that will benefit American workers, farmers and businesses,” he said.
Saying that the deal stands to add US$100 billion a year to US economic growth, he added: “There are costs to delay, real economic costs.”
“It’s imperative to move forward,” Froman said.
The deal would keep the US in position as a leader in “21st century standards” for global trade and protection of intellectual property, an open Internet, and labor and environmental protections, he added.
“It also has important geopolitical benefits. The US is and has long been a Pacific power. TPP is a concrete manifestation of our rebalancing strategy towards Asia,” he said.
On Tuesday, Obama discussed his desire to get the treaty ratified this year with top congressional Republican leaders, who said they still had problems with the complex deal.
“I have some problems with the agreement,” US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
“It’s my advice that we not pursue that, certainly before the election,” he said.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was