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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
TPP in 2016
This week, the Senate reconvened to begin another year of legislative
business. One major question this new year will be:
Will Congress pass the massive, job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP)?
For decades, politicians have sold Americans the same bill of goods:
they have promised that big trade deals would help middle-class workers
by lowering unemployment and raising wages. But the opposite has
happened. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), for
instance, sent 680,000 jobs out of the country, froze wages, and
shuttered factories across Ohio and the Midwest.
Last June, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) fought against “fast
track” legislation that made it easier to pass another job-killing
trade deal, the TPP. Now Sen. Brown is informing Ohioans about a
possible vote on the TPP this year. While some in Congress may want to
double down on these out-of-date policies, Sen. Brown is fighting to
strengthen TPP for Ohio workers and push for a new trade agenda that
cracks down on cheaters and levels the playing field.
Here are the facts about these bad trade deals:
The TPP is an enormous agreement. It involves 12 countries and it would
include 40 percent of the global economy.
It was negotiated in secret. While corporate lobbyists had access to
the text, the press and public were shut out of the process.
The TPP hurts American workers. In the last 20 years, trading partners
like Mexico have undermined American workers with low wages and
anti-union policies, causing a race to the bottom: depressing wages and
forcing U.S. companies to shift jobs out of the country. TPP does
little to reverse this trend.
It allows our trading partners to manipulate their currency. Countries
who cheat the system through currency manipulation have cost the U.S.
up to 5 million jobs. Yet, the agreement fails to punish trading
partners who do this. Sen. Brown is fighting for a new trade agenda
with tough currency enforcements.
It threatens Ohio auto jobs. We know how bad NAFTA was for Ohio
manufacturing jobs. But even NAFTA required that car and auto parts be
comprised of more than 60 percent U.S., Canadian, or Mexican materials
to qualify for trade benefits. TPP only requires 45 percent. This means
more parts in more cars coming from China and fewer made in America.
Sen. Brown believes in the American workforce and trade. He knows how
important it is for Ohio businesses and manufacturers to sell their
products around the world. But trade policy should make it easier for
Ohio workers and businesses to compete, not harder. Sen. Brown will
continue opposing the TPP and push them for a new policy that helps the
middle class rather than selling it out.
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