Secretary of State John Kerry defended a major free trade agreement that has come under fire from both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, arguing that the deal would pay major foreign policy dividends in addition to helping the U.S. economy.
“There can be no doubt TPP isn’t simply a stand-alone deal that just affects some trade barriers and some tariff rates,” Kerry said at the Wilson Center. “It’s a lot more than that, folks.”
President Obama hopes to have the deal ratified during the lame-duck session, but the unpopularity of free trade deals has lawmakers skittish. Opposition to the TPP was a key plank of Bernie Sanders’ run for the Democratic presidential nomination as well as Donald Trump’s emergence from the GOP primary fight. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, has also announced her opposition to the deal.
“Here’s the bottom line: when crises arise in the region the impacts are felt in the United States and that fact leads to this elementary and undeniable truth,” Kerry said. “It is in our interest to be able to have a positive influence on the course of events in Asia. And this second fact leads inexorably to a third: the Trans Pacific Partnership will reinforce our status as a world leader, intimately connected to the dynamic economies of the Pacific Rim — the fastest growing economies in the world.”
The TPP covers the United States and 11 Pacific Rim countries, strengthening economic ties between the countries and creating a soft-power buffer around China, according to the Obama administration. Kerry said a rejection of the deal with be noticed by governments, private groups, and “commanders of every army and navy” in the region.
Kerry hinted that U.S. allies would fall under China’s influence if the deal isn’t ratified. “They’re going to be asking themselves, ‘hey, if we can’t count on the United States, where else should we turn?'” he said. “If America won’t enter into partnership with us on economic matters why should we look to Washington for guidance on political or security matters?”
Although Kerry hasn’t spoken to Trump or Clinton about the deal, he acknowledged that he wants to counteract the attacks on TPP that have come up on the campaign trail. “I’m not in the business right now of engaging with the candidates, but I made the speech today because there is an important debate taking place today across America and it is important for people to hear the facts, which I think I’ve laid out today very clearly,” he said.
