© Kevin Lamarque / ReutersPresident Obama and President-elect Trump discuss transition plans for the future.
The Obama administration has given up on trying to push through the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal in a lame-duck session as hopes for its last-minute approval, about which there was much speculation prior to the election, faded with Donald Trump's victory. "We have worked closely with Congress to resolve outstanding issues and are ready to move forward, but this is a legislative process and it's up to congressional leaders as to whether and when this moves forward," the spokesman for US Trade Representative Matt McAlvanah said Friday.
President Barack Obama reportedly hoped to have the deal approved by Congress before he turns over the White House to Trump. The post-election lame-duck session is set to start Monday, but it is
unlikely that the 12-nation trade deal will be on the table.On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that the
TPP would not be considered in the lame-duck session or any time before the new Congress and President-elect Donald Trump are sworn in. "I think the president-elect made it pretty clear he was
not in favor of the current agreement," McConnell said, implying that Trump would scrap the deal and would
"negotiate a better one".Trump opposed the TPP throughout his campaign, prompting other Republicans to follow suit. He indicated his plan, in which there was
no place for TPP, would include
renegotiating the 22-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and much tougher trade stance with China.
Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-New York), who is expected to be the incoming Senate minority leader, made harsh remarks to trade leaders Wednesday, reportedly
pronouncing the TPP "dead."White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama and McConnell spoke after the election about the agenda of the lame-duck session. Earnest did not elaborate on whether TPP was on the list, but said
Obama "does continue to believe that this is the best opportunity that the Congress has to take advantage of the benefits of a Trans-Pacific Partnership. We've got a strong case to make with regard to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and we're going to encourage Republican leaders to take it up and pass it because of the enormous benefits that would accrue to American workers, American businesses and the broader US economy," he said.
With no hopes for the TPP to survive, Obama will have to discuss the situation with TPP participating nations when he attends the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next week. According to White House Deputy National Security Advisor Wally Adeyemo, Obama is expected to stress that the US would remain engaged in Asia regardless of the trade deal.
"In terms of the TPP agreement itself, Leader McConnell has spoken to that and it's something that he's going to work with the President-elect to figure out where they go in terms of trade agreements in the future," Adeyemo said. "But we continue to think that these types of deals make sense, simply because
countries like China are not going to stop working on regional agreements."The US already has trade agreements with many of the 12 participating nations, but the TPP would draw it closer to Japan, the world's third-largest economy and a significant ally of Washington.
Japan's Lower House of parliament passed the deal Wednesday.
Comment: There has been a lot of controversy on the TPP deal -- known as "the most progressive trade deal in history". Big 'deals' like these crimp future negotiations and stifle spontaneous fluidity. With more governments and economies involved, TPP creates less maneuverability for any single nation to readjust its position, should circumstances demand, while favoring multinational corporations over national sovereignty and common workers. Seven years in the 'not making' of TPP involved 11 Pac Rim countries. Repudiation of the deal has run rampant and the 'fix-it' list is daunting. For Obama, it was the means to tie as many countries to the US as trade partners at the expense of the American worker, US court system and laws, environmental protections and public safety.