Democrats Monday refused to give Donald Trump credit for withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal most in their party has staunchly opposed.
“TPP was dead long before President Trump took office,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “We await real action on trade.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a statement he is “glad the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead and gone,” and added he would be “delighted” to work with Trump on “a new policy to help American workers.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., issued a statement that left Trump’s name out completely.
She said the trade deal with Pacific Rim nations died “from lack of support from Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the opposition of the American people.”
DeLauro steered clear of noting it was Trump who officially withdrew the United States from the deal, which President Obama supported and tried to get Congress to ratify.
But DeLauro said it was members of Congress who deserve the credit. She said they worked for more than five years with outside groups to defeat the TPP, which critics say would put U.S. workers at a disadvantage. She also introduced legislation Friday calling for the U.S. to leave the TPP.
“Today’s action underscores what happened last year,” DeLauro said.
Trump is also planning to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, another trade deal Democrats oppose.
DeLauro said Democrats will “hold the administration accountable,” for negotiating a new NAFTA deal that will create middle-class jobs and raise wages, among other demands.
“This is the standard to which we held the last administration, and we will demand a comprehensive, new approach to trade policy under this administration,” DeLauro said. “The president cannot change the direction of our nation’s trade policy without the support of congressional Democrats.”
