The prospects for a congressional vote this year on the Trans-Pacific
Partnership agreement have been boosted recently by several prominent
politicians. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade matters, told reporters the upper
chamber could consider the TPP during a 'lame duck' session. House Ways and
Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, echoed Hatch in an interview
with the Texas Tribune.
"What I’m absolutely certain of is, every day we delay in accessing that
Asia-Pacific region, the more we lose economically," he told the paper.
"I think it is a mistake to withdraw from Trans-Pacific Partnership
because if America abandons the Asia-Pacific markets, we'll lose."
Although Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has expressed opposition
to the deal, former President Bill Clinton seemed to indicate that his wife
would like to make changes to the deal but would support it as president.
Also weighing in on the agreement this week was Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe, who was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly.
"Japan and the U.S. must each obtain domestic approval of the TPP as soon
as possible for its early entry into force," he said. "Success or
failure will sway the direction of the global free-trade system, and the
strategic environment in the Asia-Pacific."
The TPP includes the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada,
Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, which
combined have 800 million consumers and account for nearly 40 percent of global
GDP. Getting Congress to take up and pass the agreement this year is the top
priority of NPPC, which has called the trade deal the biggest commercial
opportunity ever for pork producers and a landscape-changing agreement.
According to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, the TPP will cause
U.S. pork exports to the 11 TPP partner countries to increase exponentially,
creating 10,000 new U.S. jobs tied to those exports