Officials push TPP amid dim prospects

Senior US and Singaporean officials on Monday tried to inject fresh momentum into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is facing strong opposition in both the US Congress and among the American public.

The US and 11 Asia-Pacific Rim nations reached the agreement last October. China is not part of it. While a signing ceremony was held in February this year, the TPP won’t take effect until it is ratified by the legislatures of all the nations.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 presidential nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties, both oppose the TPP. Most Democratic lawmakers also oppose the TPP. Anti-TPP chants were extremely loud during the Democratic National Convention held in Philadelphia last week.

These developments have dampened the hope for US President Barack Obama to spend his political capital to push Congress to ratify the TPP during the lame-duck session late this year and to leave it as his presidential legacy.

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Monday assured the visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of the US government commitment.

“I want you to know that President Obama and his entire administration remain committed to securing a bipartisan congressional approval of this critical trade agreement,” she said on Monday before introducing Lee for a speech at the US Chamber of Commerce.

Lee said none of the members want to reopen negotiations. “Everybody wants to have something better, but nobody wants to reopen the process, with no prospect of doing better but every chance of falling part,” he said.

He described the TPP as an economic game-changer for the US that also carries strategic significance. Lee said he understands the political difficulty in an election year and when economic uncertainty has led to concerns about jobs and competition from overseas.

“But I hope all parties will focus on the longer-term big picture because there are no winners, only losers, with protectionism,” Lee said.

While Obama has hoped to count on Republican lawmakers to help ratify the TPP, House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said that approval appears unlikely this year.

Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader, also said weeks ago that he hadn’t decided on whether to bring the deal up for a vote this year. “The chances are pretty slim. … It’s probably not the best time,” he was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as saying.

Charles Morrison, president of the East-West Center, was pessimistic that the TPP would be ratified by Congress in the lame-duck session. “That won’t happen,” he told China Daily.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe told Politico last week that Hillary Clinton would support TPP after winning the election.

As secretary of state, Clinton had touted TPP as the “gold standard,” but she opposed it during the 2016 presidential campaign, a move seen by many as a bid to win union votes.

But McAuliffe’s words were quickly rebuffed by Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta who tweeted “Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.”

Li Xiangyang, of the National Institute of International Strategy in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, expressed that many in China are more interested to see if the One Belt One Road initiative can bring more benefits to China at this stage.

The Singapore prime minister also cited China’s One Belt One Road to help develop infrastructure in the region as a move by major economies to tap the area’s vast potential.

But I hope all parties will focus on the longer-term big picture because there are no winners, only losers, with protectionism.”

Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean prime minister