Trade Backers Pin Pacific-Pact Hopes on Lame-Duck U.S. Congress
- Trans-Pacific Partnership a potential liability for GOP, Dems
- Business lobby pushes `as far and fast as we can' on the deal
Shipping containers sit stacked among gantry cranes in this aerial photograph taken above the BNCT Co. container terminal at Busan New Port in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday, July 30, 2015. South Korea is scheduled to release trade figures on Aug. 1.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/BloombergElection-year protectionism has trade supporters and some lawmakers eyeing the lame-duck session of Congress late this year as the last chance for the U.S. to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership before a new administration waters down or scuttles a deal.
Opposition to trade has emerged as a rare area of bipartisan agreement in the 2016 election campaign, with leading candidates opposing or criticizing a pact that would boost trade among nations making up 40 percent of the global economy. A tough battle for congressional seats in states where economic concerns loom large makes supporting deals such as TPP a political liability.